Shock to the System
by Arizona Robbins MD
Summary: Callie and Arizona are ecstatic that sixteen year old Sofia and her best friend want to become surgeons when they grow up, but a routine shadow day at Grey Sloan results in a shocking and life threatening discovery. *Calzona* *I do not own Grey's Anatomy or it's characters*
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi everybody! I'm back with a new multi-chapter story for you all today! This is an idea that I've been playing around with for a couple of months now, and I think it will make for a pretty good story!**

 **In this story, it is canon up until the end of season 11, with the exception of Calzona's divorce (aka, Arizona is now in fetal, Derek is dead, etc). However, this story takes place many years in the future, as Sofia is sixteen years old. That's pretty much the only difference in this timeline!**

 **I really hope you all enjoy this story! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review for me to read!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"Sofia! Dinner's ready!" Callie stood at the bottom of the stairs and called up to her mini-me.

"I'll be down in a bit! I'm finishing my homework!" Came the teenager's response.

Callie rolled her eyes.

"Take a break for now and come back to it later. You don't want your dinner to get cold!" Callie pointed out.

Callie heard the sound of a binder closing, and seconds later Sofia appeared on the staircase.

Her waist length shiny dark hair was carelessly thrown up in a side bun, and she was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants- her normal attire on these non-stop study days.

While Callie was very proud of her daughter's grades and academic success, she feels like she never sees Sofia anymore due to her busy work schedule and Sofia's school and soccer schedule.

When Sofia reached the bottom of the staircase, Callie kissed the top of her head before following her daughter into the kitchen.

"Hey, Little Miss!" Arizona said, using her timeless nickname for the girl as she entered the room. After setting down the pasta bowl on the kitchen table, she wiped her hands on a dish rag before kissing Sofia's cheek.

Sofia truly was the perfect mix of her parents: she had Mark's nose and build, as well as Callie's flawless skin and luscious hair. Arizona liked to think that she saw her own smile and dimples in the girl as well, despite not being her biological parent. One thing that Arizona wasn't so thankful Sofia had inherited from Callie and Mark was their height. At sixteen, she was now a noticeable few inches taller than Arizona, and it was just a constant reminder that this was not the same little girl that had fought for her life in the NICU. She had grown up!

Sofia took her seat at the table between her mothers, as Callie pulled out Arizona's chair so that she could easily sit down.

"Thank you, Calliope," Arizona grinned as grasped the table with one hand and her good leg with the other as she slowly lowered herself into the chair. Once she was seated, she tilted her chin up, sharing a kiss with the brunette.

Once she had helped Arizona down, Callie took her place in her own seat. It wasn't too often that the three of them got to enjoy a family dinner together, so it was a pleasant surprise that they were able to tonight.

"So Sof, how was school today?" Arizona asked, taking a bite of her pasta.

"It was okay. We have a bio test next week that I'm totally freaking out about," Sofia told her mothers.

Both Callie and Arizona's eyebrows shot up at the mention of biology, and the two of them exchanged a glance.

"No! Nope, don't give each other that look!" Sofia pointed as she immediately regretted telling her moms that she was struggling in their top subject.

"What? What look? We didn't give each other a look," Arizona played dumb as she shook her head.

Sofia mimicked Callie's signature eye roll.

"I'm just saying, you have doctors for parents, mija. You have no reason to resent bio when you have two qualified tutors right here," Callie said, giving Sofia a serious but caring look.

Sofia shook her head, once again declining her mothers' offer.

"I'm gonna figure it out for myself. Thanks for the offer though," she said, taking a bite of her dinner.

Noticing the disappointed look on Arizona's face, Sofia quickly swallowed her food.

"But, hey Mom! I'm super excited for tomorrow, and I know Briley is too!" Sofia said with a smile.

"Oh, yay!" Arizona perked up immediately. "It'll be fun!"

Callie looked back and forth between her wife and her daughter. Had she missed something?

"Ummm… What's happening tomorrow?" Callie asked, evidently very confused.

"Oh! I'm bringing Sofia and Briley Locke into the hospital tomorrow as a part of Bring Your Child to Work Day. I thought I told you," Arizona replied simply.

"Nope. This is the first I'm hearing of it…" Callie shook her head, her brows still furrowed together.

For as long as they could remember, Sofia and her best friend Briley had wanted to be doctors. Surgeons specifically. Sofia had had medical school practically mapped out since she was a baby, and her and Briley were constantly found in the Robbins-Torres house's study flipping through medical journals or parked in front of the television rewatching surgery tapes. There was no doubt that they were dying for a chance to shadow at the hospital.

"Isn't your day off tomorrow?" Callie asked Arizona, knowing that she had been anticipating this much-deserved free day to relax.

"Yeah, but I figured I would just take it easy and teach the interns how to read scans or something. Plus, I think Mer is bringing Zola in too. I'm not gonna be on-call or anything crazy."

When she was little, Sofia would come with her moms to the hospital all the time, but since school and soccer have made her busier over the last few years, she hadn't gotten the chance to visit in a while.

"As long as I get to whisk them away for a bit to show them ortho!" Callie smiled.

While Sofia knew she wanted to be a surgeon, she still didn't know what kind. Both Callie and Arizona were trying to persuade their daughter into joining their specialty, and Callie knew that maybe spending a little bit of time watching her Mama set a few bones could sway her.

"Can we watch a surgery?!" Sofia's face lit up. That's another thing she inherited from all three of her parents- enthusiasm for the operating room.

"Maybe… from the gallery," Callie smirked as a jealous look appeared on Arizona's face.

"Well I just might have to scrub in on a procedure tomorrow. Just so I can show you how we do it in fetal!" Arizona said, standing up as she cleaned her dishes off the table and brought them to the sink.

Callie and Sofia followed her, and soon the kitchen was cleaned up from dinner and Sofia had returned upstairs to finish her homework.

Arizona was standing at the kitchen island, reading one of the magazines that came in the mail today, as she felt the familiar feeling of Callie's strong hands around her waist and butterflies in her stomach. Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie's and leaned back, tilting her head up and making eye contact with Callie's warm brown eyes.

"You really thought you could get Sofia to join you in ortho that easily?" Arizona asked, leaning lovingly into her wife.

"I had hoped so," Callie admitted with a smile before kissing the top of Arizona's head and resting her chin there.

The women stayed like that for a long while, both just enjoying each other's embrace.

…

Callie had a morning packed full of surgeries, so Arizona had agreed to have the girls shadow her for the first part of the day. Her plan included using her special assistants to help teach the interns how to read magnetic resonance images.

Arizona entered the intern locker room with Sofia and Briley (who were both psyched that they got to wear their very own white lab coats for the day) close behind. Every head turned when they entered the room, surprised to see the Chief of Fetal Surgery accompanied by two teenage girls.

"Okay, first years, you can come with me today. I have my assistant doctors with me today, this is my daughter, Sofia and her friend Briley," Arizona said, introducing the brunette and blonde teenagers. "They will be your radiology models today. You will be practicing setting up the Lodox machine and taking pediatric scans today, and they will serve as your patients. Sound good?"

The group of interns that had assembled around them nodded. Arizona turned on her heel and went back through the doors leading out towards the hallway. The girls and the interns trailed behind her like ducklings as they travelled from the locker room towards radiology.

"This is super cool," Sofia leaned over and whispered to her friend.

Briley nodded, her sandy-blonde ponytail bobbing up and down.

"I've never even been in a real hospital before. Did you see the way that those interns hung onto every word your mom said?! So cool."

"I know right!"

Hearing every word of their conversation, Arizona smiled to herself. She had never even imagined she'd have kids someday, now here she was as the "cool mom". Sweet.

A couple of minutes later, they reached their destination. Each of the interns sat down in a chair in the scan viewing room, and Arizona made sure they were settled before returning back to the attached scan room where Sofia and Briley were waiting.

"Okay, doctors, who wants to go first?" Arizona asked, slipping her hands in the pockets of her lab coat.

The sentence was barely out of her mouth before Sofia started jumping up and down, waving her arm around in the air. Her behavior reminded Arizona of what it was like when Sofia was a toddler- boundless and full of pure energy.

Arizona instructed Briley to stand against the wall as she got Sofia comfortable on the machine's table. When Sofia was ready, Arizona gave a thumbs up to the doctors in the viewing room and they pressed the start button.

The machine whirred to life, making a loud noise as it scanned Sofia's body. Just thirteen seconds later, it was over just as fast as it had started. Sofia giggled as she hopped off the table and skipped over to join her friend.

Arizona entered the viewing room just as the scans were coming up on the screens in front of the intern class.

"Reading pediatric scans can be different than reading the scans of a full grown adult," Arizona said, crossing her arms as she leaned against the door frame. "What do you see?"

The doctors crowded the computer screens from all angles. There was a hesitation in the room before one of the young doctors spoke.

"Uh, I see a healthy teen," an intern with dark brown hair and a faint mustache and beard.

Arizona nodded.

"Correct, Dr. DeLuca, however, if you were to have seen a scan of hers from sixteen years ago, that would _not_ have been the case. During her first week of life Sofia endured a PDA surgery, as well as a brain decompression done to remove a hemorrhage. But now, she's a healthy teenager. That's the miracle of modern medicine, people!" Arizona said, smiling at the young doctors.

Heading back into the scan room, she motioned to Briley to hop up on to the table. She happily obliged, and as soon as she was laying perfectly still, Arizona sent another thumbs up through the window at the interns.

The machine came to life for a second time as it scanned the younger blonde's body. When the scan was complete, Briley had the biggest smile on her face.

"That was SO cool, Dr. Arizona! Thank you!" Briley said, using the name she has called Arizona since she was young.

"I'm glad you are having fun! But we've got lots more planned for today!" Arizona replied, just as the intercom system crackled overhead.

"Uh… Dr. Robbins, will you, uh, come in here for a second?" a blonde male intern (Arizona couldn't remember his name… Cross, maybe?) called to her through the window. Judging my the look on his face and the color-drained faces of his fellow interns, Arizona had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

"Girls, you can head down to the cafeteria and get yourself a snack. I'll meet you there in a few minutes," Arizona told them.

The teenagers nodded and Arizona watched them walk down the hallway before entering the scan viewing room, where she was met with shocked faces and big-eyed interns.

"Is that… what I think it is?" Dr. Cross used a pen to point at the MRI.

Arizona's face went pale as her mind registered the image.

There, right in front of her, was Briley's scan; her left leg had two spots that lit up like lights on a Christmas tree.

"Someone page my wife," Arizona gulped. "Page Dr. Torres STAT!"

* * *

 **Oooh, a cliffhanger!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! Please leave your reviews below, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave those as well!**

 **I hope I'l get the chance to update you all with another chapter soon!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi everybody! I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this chapter to you all and to leave you on a cliffhanger like that for so long! I've been so busy lately, but I finally got the chance to write this chapter for you all today, so I hope you enjoy! Please leave reviews!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Callie's heart raced as she sprinted from the OR floor towards radiology. Her page only said **ROBBINS- 911** and she had no idea what she should be expecting. Knowing that Arizona wasn't actually on-call today, she was completely in the dark as to what this urgent page was suggesting. Though Arizona was known to page Callie 911 for a quickie in the on-call room, Callie knew that Arizona was aware of how busy her schedule was today.

As she reached closer to the MRI room, her steps slowed down and she caught her breath before entering the scan viewing room where she found Arizona sitting by herself looking at a full body image on the computer screen.

When she felt Callie's presence in the doorway, Arizona glanced up. Her tear filled eyes met the confused and concerned look on Callie's face. She sniffled as she wiped her eyes and sat up straighter in the rolling chair she was sitting in.

"Tell me this isn't what it looks like," were the only words that escaped her mouth.

Callie shifted her gaze to the screen in front of them. She audibly swallowed and squinted her eyes at the image.

"Tumors. Definitely tumors. Metastasized, since they're on both the tibia and the femur," Callie analyzed the scan, pointing at the bright white spots. A sob escaped Arizona's mouth from beside her. Callie began to panic and her mind went straight for the worst possible scenario. "Are these Sofia's?!"

"No, no," Arizona was quick to assure her wife, even through the tears streaming down her face. "They're Briley's."

Callie was only relieved for a moment before her heart stopped. While she was obviously happy that this set of scans didn't belong to her daughter, she felt crushed for the girl she considered her second child.

Sofia and Briley met on the first day of preschool and had been practically inseparable ever since. The girls had played numerous sports together over the years, and they've been in classes together almost every year. Briley was as much a constant in the Robbins-Torres household as their own family. Sofia and Briley's friendship had brought Callie and Arizona extremely close to Briley's parents, Chandler and Nicole, as well. Sofia was always welcomed at the Locke house whenever both of her moms were paged in to the hospital, even on minutes notice. The thought of having to sit Chandler and Nicole down to tell them this news about Briley felt unbearable.

"What are we gonna do?" Arizona asked her wife. Her heart felt like it was being ripped in two for this little girl she loved so deeply. She hadn't felt this kind of emotional pain since she had experienced her own medical trauma- the amputation of her leg- when Sofia was only a baby.

"We're gonna fight like hell for her," Callie said simply, taking Arizona's hand in her own. "For the first decade of your career, you were the best pediatric surgeon on this side of the Mississippi. I'm a freakin' ortho goddess. Her best chances are with us, and we're gonna fight like hell."

Taking Arizona's other hand, she helped her up from her chair and hugged her in close. She could feel Arizona's quick, shallow breaths, and could feel her on the verge of having some sort of panic attack. Callie squeezed her tighter until she loosened into her embrace. They were in this together.

"Where are the girls now?" Callie asked.

"I sent them to the caf to get a snack," Arizona explained. "I sensed something was wrong when the interns called me in to get a professional opinion, and I didn't want them to be scared or worried."

Callie nodded.

"You did the right thing. Do you want to go find them while I call her parents? I can meet you in a peds room in fifteen," Callie offered.

Arizona sniffled again before nodding.

The two women headed separate ways once they left the scan room, but both of their hearts felt heavier than they had when they entered.

…

"Hey girls!" Arizona greeted Sofia and Briley, who were accompanied by Zola. The girls were eating bowls of soft-serve ice cream. "I hate to break up the party, but I've gotta steal Miss Sofi and Miss Bri. Zo, do you know where your mom is?" Arizona hoped that the girls couldn't hear the quiver in her voice.

Zola nodded.

"She got pulled into surgery. Aunt Maggie's rounding though, I can go hang in her office!" Zola replied, waving bye to the other girls.

"Where are we going now, Mom?" Sofia asked, curious about what else the day had in store.

Arizona's heart sped up and she tried to act natural.

"Uhh… We're gonna go to the peds floor for a bit. See what's going on up there."

Arizona pushed the call button for the elevator and put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. She nervously chewed on her bottom lip. The elevator couldn't get here fast enough.

…

Callie entered her office and locked the door behind her. Her palms sweat as she paced back and forth within the small shoebox of a room. Taking out her phone, the anxiously clicked on Nicole Locke's contact name and lifted her phone to her ear.

She heard a familiar voice pick up on the last ring.

"Hey, Callie!" Nicole chirped from the other end of the line. "How are you?"

"Hi. I'm pretty good, you?" Callie forced herself to lie, trying not to worry her friend.

"Great! Thank you and Arizona again for taking Briley to Grey + Sloan today. I know she was really looking forward to it."

"Oh, yeah. No problem at all. Briley's a great kid," Callie replied.

"So what's up?" Nicole asked, looking for a reason why Callie would be calling her in the middle of the day.

Callie had a quick two-second internal debate with herself- whether to dance around the point, or get straight to it.

She opted for dancing.

"So, um, Arizona took the girls to be used as radiology models for the surgical interns today. The interns got to practice using a scan machine on the girls," Callie began.

"Oh, how fun! I bet they loved that!" Nicole exclaimed.

"Yeah… So when the interns were studying the scans, they found something… unusual with Briley's," Callie winced as the words came out of her mouth.

"Unusual? What does that mean? Unusual how?" Nicole asked, panic arising in her voice.

"There were some spots on her leg in the scan. After assessing it, Arizona and I both believe them to be tumors," Callie informed her.

"Tumors? As in cancer?!" Nicole's voice cracked, and a piece of Callie's heart broke.

"It's not confirmed cancer, but it's… likely. I called you immediately to tell you and Chandler to get here as quickly as you can. We need your consent to admit her and begin further testing," Callie said.

"We'll be right there," Nicole said before Callie heard the phone call end. She let out a sigh before leaving her office and heading towards peds. It had already been such a long day and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

…

"Hey, look! There's Mama!" Sofia pointed towards the elevator as Callie stepped off onto the pediatric floor. Unbeknownst to the girls, they had been waiting at the nurses' station for Callie's arrival.

"Awesome. Let's go in here really quick, girls. We've got something we want to talk about with you both," Arizona said, guiding the girls towards an empty patient room.

Sofia and Briley obliged, and the girls both took seats on the bed upon entering the room. Callie and Arizona followed, shutting the door behind them. Callie took a seat on the edge of the bookcase in the room, as Arizona leaned up against the door.

"Have you girls had fun so far today?" Callie asked, trying to make small talk with the girls before dropping the awful, life-altering news on the teenagers in front of her.

Both girls nodded. Callie looked over at Arizona, who stood up straight and moved closer to where the girls were seated.

"Briley, has your leg been bothering you?" Arizona asked the blonde girl.

Briley thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I mean, kind of… I guess so, yeah. I think I hurt it in soccer or something," she replied, rolling up her pant leg all the way up to her hip.

Callie sucked in her breath, and the doctors exchanged a glance as they both saw the same things: two large and visible bumps protruding from her leg, right where the scan predicted they'd be.

Callie moved closer to study the lumps, running her fingers over Briley's smooth skin.

"Does that hurt?" Callie asked, applying a small amount of pressure to the lumps with the pads of her fingertips.

Briley's brows furrowed together and she bit down on her lip as she nodded.

Callie and Arizona exchanged another look, this time it was noticed by the confused teens.

"Is something going on?" Briley asked, looking back and forth between Callie and Arizona. "What's wrong?"

Arizona crossed her arms and cleared her throat before answering Briley.

"We saw something off with your leg on your scan that the interns took, and now seeing how painful the bumps are to you, we just wanna run some quick tests to see if everything's running smoothly."

Briley's eyes widened as she looked at Sofia for support. Sofia was equally as shocked, but she slid her hand in Briley's anyway and squeezed it, letting her know that she was there.

"I called your parents and they'll be here soon," Callie told her.

Tears filled Briley's eyes and she nodded, fixing her gaze down at the floor.

"I'm gonna go get Alex and fill him in, as well as get the admission paperwork," Arizona said, opening the door.

Sure, Callie and Arizona were easily the most qualified for this case, but they were also incredibly biased. They needed a third party to keep them grounded and to help suggest treatment options, and as the current Chief of Pediatric Surgery, Alex Karev was the man for the job.

A half hour later, Arizona returned with Karev and some forms for the Lockes to sign. She had taken the time to brief Alex on the situation and he was more than willing to help out. While she was gone, Chandler and Nicole had arrived at the hospital and entered the now-crowded hospital room.

Arizona noticed the very familiar look of worry on her friends' faces. She had seen the same look from a million sets of parents before. They had no idea what was about to happen, and they were scared and confused about why this had to happen to their family. Their day had started off so _normal_.

Arizona greeted the Lockes before introducing Alex.

"This is my colleague, Dr. Alex Karev. He's the current Chief of Peds Surgery here. He's the best, and he's agreed to help Callie and I with Briley's case."

Alex shook hands with Briley's concerned mom and dad. Hearing how highly Arizona had spoken about Alex was comforting, but they were still quite stressed and anxious.

"Here are some forms we need you both to sign before we get started with the testing," Arizona said, handing each of them a clipboard. "As soon as you've finished signing those forms, we can admit her and bring her down for a biopsy."

"Will that hurt?" Briley asked with the presence of fear in her voice.

"You'll be asleep, so it'll be a little sore after you wake up, but it shouldn't be too bad," Callie assured her.

Minutes later, Chandler and Nicole had handed the forms back to Callie and Arizona, giving them a green light to begin the biopsy process.

…

"Biopsy needle," Arizona requested, as she held out her hand for the tool. Alex placed it in her hand as she began to take a sample of the first tumor in Briley's tibia.

There was no need for three doctors to be performing the minor diagnostic surgery, so Callie, who had sat this one out, had positioned herself by the head of the table. Though Briley was asleep, Callie held the girl's hand as her wife and friend operated.

About a half hour later, Arizona handed the two tumor samples off to a scrub nurse.

"Rush those results and bring them straight back," Arizona ordered as she nurse nodded.

Another team of nurses moved Briley to recovery, while the three doctors stripped off their gowns and gloves. Discarding their surgical masks as they began to scrub out, Callie and Arizona's minds began to wander elsewhere.

When they finished scrubbing, the surgeons waited in the scrub room for the nurse to return with the results. Arizona zoned out, as Callie mindlessly played with the silver heart pendant that constantly hung around her neck. Alex studied the two women, and he could clearly see that they seemed out of it and distracted. And from what Arizona had told him about their relationship with the girl, he could see why.

Moments later, the scrub room door opened and the nurse returned holding an envelope that contained the lab results from the biopsy. She handed she small envelope to Arizona before exiting the room.

"I can't read it. Alex, you do it," Arizona said, handing the paper to him.

Callie rested her hand on the small of Arizona's back, knowing that she needed support right now. Both women held their breath as Alex opened the envelope and read it's contents. His face remained stoic as he read, but he then glanced up at the two women waiting for the answer he held in his hands.

"It's Ewing Sarcoma," he sighed, revealing the extremely rare and invasive bone cancer that had invaded Briley's left leg.

"Damn it, damn it!" Callie closed her eyes and hung her head down.

Arizona began to cry again, unable to conceal her emotions. Callie hugged her closer.

* * *

 **So, we have a diagnosis. Poor Briley. :(**

 **I hope you all liked this new chapter.** **I'm hoping I'll get the chance to update again before the holidays!**

 **Please don't forget to leave me any and all thoughts you had on this chapter! I love to read them.**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi everyone! Thank you for all of your great reviews after the previous chapter I uploaded! I love to read them! This chapter takes place exactly where the last one leaves off. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Callie held Arizona as she sobbed in her arms. She rested her chin on the smaller woman's head and she was able to feel her shaking with each cry she let out.

Could this really be happening?! Sure, they were both so incredibly lucky that it isn't Sofia that has cancer, but Briley was no better. Their hearts shattered for the teenager that was about to be forced into battle against her own body. They shattered for their friends, who are already feeling paralyzed by fear, who are about to hear the worst news of their lives thus far. And more than anything, Callie and Arizona's hearts shattered for their own little girl, who was about to be crushed by the news that her friend would have to fight for her life.

To make matters worse, being doctors, Callie and Arizona were intimately familiar with pediatric oncology and it's survival rates, treatments, and success stories. Briley would have to walk right through hell as she endured the treatment for Ewing Sarcoma. The surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and side effects will seem endless for over two years. And even with all of the treatments available, the future outcome is still unclear, especially when the cancer was this far along.

Briley had started off her day as any normal teenager, and she will go to bed as one of the 46 children that are diagnosed with a form of childhood cancer everyday in the United States. A scary statistic for a scary situation.

Alex watched as his friends processed the news. He looked on as Callie tried her best to comfort Arizona, all while barely keeping herself together in the process. He could see that Callie wanted to badly to break down as well, but she was being strong for her wife.

They stayed that way for a couple minutes longer, until Arizona seemed to have no tears left to cry. As Callie and Arizona pulled themselves together, they realized it was now time to deliver the difficult news to the patient and family. Over the course of their careers, both surgeons had done this more times than they could ever imagine. But this time it was different. It was someone they knew, someone they cared for, and someone they loved. They felt almost as if they were transported back to intern year when they delivered a bad outcome to a family for the first time.

The walk back to the peds ward was slow and silent; none of the three doctors knew quite what to say. Though this was a devastating blow, they needed to transform themselves into the hopeful and confident doctors they usually are. They needed to be prepared for how each family member would take the news- denial, sadness, anger…

Alex, Arizona and Callie paused when they reached the hospital room where Briley, her parents, and Sofia were waiting. Alex looked between the two women, checking to make sure they wouldn't crumble at the drop of a hat.

"You sure you wanna do this? I can tell them myself, you don't have to be here if you don't think you can handle it," Alex offered.

Both women were quick to shake their heads.

"No," Arizona sniffled. "We have to do this. The Lockes know us, they trust us… we just have to."

Callie nodded in agreement. When Arizona turned to look up at her, Callie licked the pad of her thumb and rubbed away the smudged mascara from under Arizona's eyes.

They took a collective deep breath together as Alex opened the door. Looking very groggy from the anesthesia, Briley appeared so small in the big hospital bed. Sofia sat on the bed's foot, protectively staying close by her friend. Nicole was sitting on the chair in the room as Chandler paced back and forth by the windows overlooking the Seattle skyline. Every head turned as the door opened and the three doctors walked in.

"Sof, why don't you go wait in your mom's office down the hall while we talk to the Lockes, okay?" Callie asked her daughter.

Sofia was very quick to object.

"No. I'm not a little kid anymore, you can't just shoo me away. Whatever you have to say, you can say to me too. I can handle it," she said.

Arizona, immediately recognizing the good-natured stubbornness that her daughter had inherited from herself, realized that Sofia probably _should_ be in there when they deliver the news. Arizona placed her hand in Callie's, signaling to her that Sofia had her permission to stay.

Alex took the lead.

"In surgery, we biopsied, meaning we took samples from, both of the tumors that were found in Briley's left leg. We rushed the tests from the lab, and we just received the results."

Feeling it was her turn to speak, Arizona swallowed before she picked up where Alex left off.

"The tests showed an oncological event. They came back positive for a bone cancer called Ewing Sarcoma."

Color drained from the faces in the room.

"She… She has cancer?" Chandler asked, his voice cracking as he spoke. Tears welled up in his eyes. Nicole began to cry.

Arizona nodded with a sad look on her face.

"The cancer has metastasized, making it stage four. The original tumor, the larger one, is located in her upper tibia, and the disease has spread into the middle part of her femur," Callie explained, holding up the scans and pointing out the diseased spots. "Ewing Sarcoma in general, is very difficult to treat, and stage four makes it even harder. But, both Arizona and I have had success in removing and treating this cancer in the past, and there is no doubt in our minds that Briley's case won't be any different."

"We are going to pore over the files tonight and determine the best course of treatment for Briley. We will come back with our plan tomorrow morning and present it to you. We can get Briley started with round one of chemo then as well," Arizona informed them. "But, for now, we'll let you be. If you have any questions or concerns, please call either of us anytime. Come on, Sofia, let's give Briley some time with her family."

Alex, Callie and Arizona left the room as Sofia hugged her friend. With tears present in both of their eyes, she placed her hands on Briley's shoulders.

"I know this sucks. I know. But don't be scared because my moms are the best in the world at what they do. They save lives every single day. You are in the best hands. Love you," Sofia told her friend. Briley nodded, a tear streaming down her face.

Callie and Arizona watched the encounter unfold from outside the window of the patient room. It was in that moment that they fully realized what a compassionate, empathetic, caring girl Sofia had become.

…

"Do you think a rotationplasty would be best?" Arizona asked her wife, open medical journals sprawled over their entire living room.

Callie shook her head.

"The tumors are too far apart. A rotationplasty wouldn't work," Callie replied, turning down the cutting edge partial-amputation surgery where one's foot is rotated 180 degrees and reattached to a different bone on the leg, so that the ankle joint acts as a knee.

It was nearly 1 AM, and Callie and Arizona had spent the entire night debating how they should treat Briley's cancer. Running on sugary drinks and pizza, the women had managed to flip through every textbook and journal they own to attempt to find a solution to their case.

Callie pulled another orthopedic surgery book off of a shelf and began flipping through it hoping to find some answers. Arizona, who had discarded her prosthetic hours before, was sitting on the couch elevating her residual limb so that it wouldn't swell. With her crutches next to her resting against the couch, she had her laptop on her lap as she drafted e-mails to send to pediatric surgeons over at Boston Children's Hospital, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles- some of the best pediatric cancer treatment facilities in the country. Maybe one of the world-renowned doctors there could be of some help.

"I don't want to even attempt a limb salvage surgery," Callie stated, not looking up from the book on her arms. "Briley's an active girl, and the recovery time for a surgery like that is months. And even then, she'll never get back to full function."

"You know what we should do, Callie," Arizona said, closing her laptop. She waited for Callie to meet her eyes.

Callie looked up and sighed when she saw the look on Arizona's face. She set the book she was reading back on the shelf and went and sat on the couch next to Arizona. She laid her head on Arizona's shoulder and took a deep breath.

"I know."

"You said it yourself. Briley is a very active girl. She'll want to be back on her feet as soon as possible, and no limb salvage surgery could have her doing that."

"I know."

"This is stage four Ewing's, Callie. The cancer is already likely to kill her, so we need to pursue the option with the least chance of the cancer relapsing. Don't let your love for her cloud your judgment as a doctor," Arizona advised. She hesitated before adding, "We should discuss amputation."

The words that came out of Arizona's mouth hit Callie like a ton of bricks, despite the fact that they had both been thinking the same thing. She immediately stood up and found a new oncology journal to indulge herself in.

"Calliope…" Arizona said as she sensed that Callie was avoiding the topic of amputation.

"No! I will not do that to this little girl!" Callie said sternly, tears in her eyes. "There has to be another option!"

"Callie, you have done a million amputations in cases exactly like this! You have been an orthopedic surgeon long enough that I shouldn't have to fight you on the fact that this is the right thing to do! Before the plane crash, I think you would have seen it!" Arizona protested.

All of the tears that Callie had been holding in all day let loose. She dropped down to her knees and broke down. Arizona could see how this situation could hit so close to home for Callie.

Placing her crutches under her arms, Arizona stood up and made her way over to the armchair by where Callie was crying. Sitting down in the chair, Arizona was able to rub Callie's back and stroke her hair until her breathing slowed down. When Callie was finally calm, Arizona broke the silence yet again.

"Cal, I think you're scared to to palliative amputations… and I'm afraid that may be my fault," the words stung as they came out of Arizona's mouth. Her amputation rarely made its way into conversations anymore, and she honestly forgot that her life used to be any different. But now, saying it out loud like this, threatened to bring back many unpleasant memories from her darker days.

When Callie's eyes met Arizona's, she noticed they were swollen and puffy from crying. In that moment, Arizona _really_ realized how her amputation had affected Callie and those around her. The way she had reacted after her own surgery had nearly traumatized Callie, making the ortho surgeon uneasy when performing the same operation on other patients.

"I can handle this, Callie, and you can too. You and I both know that amputation is the right route to follow, especially with this agressive of a cancer. I want you to know that you can do this. And that I love you more than anybody in the world, and I believe in you."

Though she was still hesitant, Callie knew deep down that it was the right thing to do. She nodded, wondering how this would all be received by the Lockes in the morning.

…

The next day, Callie and Arizona were back on their usual daily services. Despite much protest, Sofia had to return to school in the morning. Callie and Arizona had arrived to work early to brief Karev on the treatment plan they had finalized at nearly 3 AM. He supported everything that Callie and Arizona had suggested, so the final phase of the plan before they could hit the ground running was to go tell the family.

Arizona knocked on the door to the patient room before opening it and entering with Alex and Callie close behind.

"Good morning, Bri! Good morning mom and dad!" Arizona greeted them. "How'd you sleep?"

"Awful," Briley said, rubbing her eyes. She really wasn't holding any emotion back today.

"It was a rough, pain-filled night," Nicole told the doctors.

"I can help with that," Alex assured them as he upped the dosage on Briley's morphine drip.

"We just wanted to fill you all on on the course of treatment we developed for Briley last night," Arizona said, handing a packet of paper to Briley's parents.

"The plan we have set in place includes around two years of chemotherapy, ten weeks of radiation, a possible stem cell transplant, and a major limb surgery," Arizona explained. "As for the surgery, we are all ultimately recommending an above knee amputation."

The room was quiet.

"You want to cut off my leg?!" Briley asked with alarm, looking at the doctors like they each had two heads. "Absolutely not!"

"Listen, a prosthetic would give you a better life than any limb sparing surgery could. The recovery time is a lot faster, and you could be back running up and down the soccer field by next season if you're lucky," Alex told her.

Briley still shook her head, looking to her parents for support.

Nicole and Chandler, who had been rather quiet this morning, exchanged a look.

"Would the amputation be the best way to get rid of the cancer? And would it make sure that the cancer didn't come back?" Chandler asked, obviously taking the doctors' professional opinions into consideration.

"While it can't guarantee a hundred percent that her cancer wouldn't return, it really is the best option for the long run," Callie replied.

Nicole sighed, nodding her head. "That sounds good to me."

Briley's eyes practically bulged out of her head.

"Are you kidding me?! No way!" Briley stayed firm on her answer. "I won't be the same person without a leg! Mom, Dad, if you give them permission to take my leg, I will never forgive you! Never!"

This outburst surprised both Callie and Arizona. Briley had always been a very laid-back, go with the flow kind of kid. This type of behavior was the last thing they expected of Briley, even despite the circumstances.

"Briley, we are all just trying to give you the best future," Nicole calmly explained to the short-tempered, sleep deprived teen.

"What kind of future will I have with only one leg?!" Briley cried.

The last comment hit Arizona like a slap on the face. Sure, a similar statement may or may not have come out over her own mouth when she was in that hospital bed, but now she thought very, very differently. She learned firsthand how fulfilling a second chance at life could be, even with the loss of a leg, which in the long run, wasn't actually that big of a setback.

Chandler stood up, handed the packet back to the doctors and said:

"We want to give her the best chance of survival, and if that means an amputation, then she'll have the amputation."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I hope it wasn't too slow. Next chapter things will really take off. Please leave your thoughts and reviews for me to read!**

 **I don't think I will get the chance to update again before the Christmas, so I hope you all have happy holidays!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi everybody! I hope you all had a nice holiday! Here's a new update for all of you. I think that this might be my favorite chapter I've written so far in this story.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Alex closed the door behind the three doctors as they left the patient room and walked towards the charting station on the peds floor.

Arizona let out a sigh as she opened up Briley's chart on the tablet in front of her. She documented her treatment plan and ordered more pain meds for her to keep her comfortable before handing the tablet back to the nurse.

"That was rough," Callie said as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"To say the least," Arizona finished. While that was somewhat of the reaction they were expecting, it still caught them a little off-guard to see Briley's outburst like that.

The doctors, each lost in their own thoughts, walked towards Arizona's office in silence for a bit before Arizona spoke up, letting Callie get a glimpse of what was running through her mind.

"Do you think Briley even knows about my leg?"

Callie laughed at the silliness of the question.

"Um, why wouldn't she know? She's Sofia's best friend. She's at our house almost as much as- if not more than- we are. Of course she knows about the leg," Callie replied.

"But I don't know if she does. I've never come right out and told her about it, and I don't think you have either. I mean, the topic of my leg has always been a kind of 'taboo' subject around the house, and is hardly ever talked about anyways," Arizona pointed out. "I rarely ever use my wheelchair around the house anymore, and I only use the crutches when it's really late at night or if I'm having a bad leg day."

Callie shrugged.

"I can see why she wouldn't know, but don't you think Sofia's told her?" Callie asked.

Now it was Arizona's turn to shrug.

"That's just it- I don't know. I see them as being the type of friends that know _everything_ about the other one. Then again, 'Hey, did you know that my mom only has one leg?' doesn't really make its way into conversation that easily."

By now, they had reached Arizona's office. Callie turned the knob and opened the door, immediately taking a seat on the couch upon entering the room. Arizona sat in her desk chair, using her right foot to spin the chair back and forth as she mindlessly chewed on the cap of a pen.

"I just feel like if Briley knows about my leg, she wouldn't have said some of the things she did in there," Arizona said quietly.

"She's angry. And scared. The things you said when you woke up from surgery were worse than that," Callie reminded her, straightening up in her seat. "You can't hold what she said against her."

Arizona shook her head.

"No, no, I'm not. But hear me out: I think that if she _doesn't_ know about my leg, maybe me sharing that part of myself with her could help to change her perspective. Maybe I could talk to her… and I don't know, maybe be like a mentor to her?" Arizona wondered out loud.

Adjusting the pillows next to her on the couch, Callie processed Arizona's words before giving her answer.

"I think you should text Sofia and ask her if Briley knows, and if she doesn't you should go into her room this afternoon and tell her. It could be comforting for her- and for her parents- to know that there's someone she knows so well that was in the same situation as she was. I sure wish we had someone like that when you were in her position."

Arizona nodded in agreement, taking out her iPhone and clicking on her daughter's name. She typed a quick message to her and clicked the send button.

 **Hey Sof, do you know if Briley knows that I'm an amputee? Let me know when you get a chance. Love you. Mom**

Just seconds after her message went out, her phone chimed with Sofia's reply:

 **I don't think she knows. At least, I've never told her.**

Arizona read the message out loud to Callie before crafting her response.

 **Okay, thank you Sweetheart. And get off your phone during class!**

Just as she added that last sentence to her text, Arizona's pager began to blare. Glancing at it, she rolled her eyes as she stood up, slipping her phone back into the pocket of her lab coat.

"Looks like this conversation with Briley will have to wait. Kepner just paged me to the pit," she said, turning to her wife to give her a kiss before heading out towards the elevator.

…

A pregnant mom had gotten into a car accident on the way to the hospital, and despite her best efforts to keep the baby "cooking" inside for the rest of the term, Arizona had to deliver the baby prematurely at 30 weeks.

She immediately had the little baby boy sent up to the NICU for evaluation and monitoring. After the surgery, Arizona had to tell the parents that their baby had to be delivered ten weeks early, but that they had no reason to worry just yet.

"Dr. Karev and the NICU team are amazing at what they do. They helped to save my own little girl many, many moons ago," Arizona smiled, taking out her phone and swiping through her photo album to find one of Sofia's soccer action shots from her last game.

Handing the phone to the new mom, Arizona took that moment to brag about Sofia a little more.

"She was born at 24 weeks. During her first five weeks of life, she had a brain bleed and heart surgery, but now she's the star of her high school soccer team!" Arizona told them

The couple thanked her for sharing and cited that the story made them feel better and more hopeful than before.

After leaving the patient room, it was about two o'clock, so Arizona had a late lunch with Callie in the cafeteria before they both headed back up to Peds.

Arizona leaned against the nurses' station counter as she looked in the window to Briley's room. She saw the girl alone in the room, flipping through channels on the TV.

"Now's your chance," Callie whispered to her wife.

Arizona's hopeful blue eyes met Callie's encouraging brown ones. They shared a soft kiss before Arizona took a deep breath.

"You've got this. Just be you. It's just Briley," Callie reminded her.

Arizona nodded. Her heart pounded as she knocked on the wooden door, opening it very slowly and popping her head in the room.

"Hey, Bri. Can we talk for a minute?" Arizona asked.

"Sure," Briley replied as she turned off the TV.

Arizona sat down on the chair next to Briley's bed. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat trying to collect her thoughts as Briley's dark blue eyes watched her.

"Has, um… Has Sofia ever told you about her daddy?" Arizona began.

Briley's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she shook her head no. Sofia has a dad?! That thought never occurred to her before.

"Okay, well, Sofia's dad- his name was Mark- was also a surgeon here at the hospital. He was a phenomenal doctor, and quite a funny guy. You'd like him. We didn't always get along, but he loved Sofia and he loved me and Callie," Arizona smiled as she reminisced on memories with Mark.

Briley nodded, signaling for Arizona to continue.

"So, one day, when Sofia was a baby, our boss told us that the two of us and a couple of other doctors were going to fly out to Idaho to perform a surgery on conjoined twins," Arizona explained.

"They flew you all out there? Why didn't the doctors there just do the surgery themselves?" Briley asked.

Arizona explained to her how that team of surgeons, which included Sofia's Aunt Lexie and Aunt Cristina, as well as Zola's parents, Dr. Grey and the late Dr. Shepherd, had already completed a similar surgery here in Seattle, so they were the most skilled doctors on the west coast to perform it.

"But when we were on our way there…" Arizona eyes welled up with tears. She tried to swallow the sob she could feel in her throat. "Our plane crashed."

Briley gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Was everybody okay?!" Briley asked, hanging on to every word Arizona said.

"We all had some injuries here and there. Some were more severe than others. But Sofia's dad and her Aunt Lexie passed away from the injuries they sustained as a result of the crash," Arizona sighed.

Briley gasped again.

"Oh no. Poor Sofia," Briley's heart ached for her best friend. She couldn't imagine losing her own father to something as horrific as a plane crash. "At least you were okay. I'm happy she didn't have to lose two parents."

Arizona gave Briley a soft smile as her heart sank.

"Ac-actually," Arizona started, her voice cracking. "I broke my leg really, really badly when the plane crashed. And by the time we reached a hospital, my leg was making me very sick. And my wife and my doctors decided that the only way to save my life would be to amputate it."

A chilling silence fell over the room as Arizona finished speaking. She watched as Briley's eyes drifted down to Arizona's legs and back up to meet her eyes. Her face was pale and her eyes were watery.

Arizona bent over and rolled up the leg of her pants, revealing the titanium limb that now served as her left leg. Leaving the pant leg rolled up so that it exposed her metal leg and plastic socket, she redirected her attention back to Briley.

"I wanted to share this with you because I know what you're feeling. Other people will say that they 'get it' or that they 'understand how hard this is for you', but they really have no idea. But I _do_ know what you're going through, Briley. And it may seem like the end of the world right now, but I promise you, it's not," Arizona said, taking Briley's hand in her own.

"I've known you for years… and I never even knew…" Briley shook her head in disbelief.

Arizona laughed and ran her fingers through Briley's blonde hair.

"I know. You see? Losing a leg isn't the end of the world. I can still do everything that I did before I was disabled, I can still walk, stand for long periods of time to operate, and I was able to chase after Sofia when she was a toddler. I just wanted to tell you that I know you feel really, really crappy right now, but once we have you up and at 'em with a prosthetic, you will be unstoppable."

"But you walk so normal! How?!" Briley still was unable to process that the woman she had seen weekly for twelve years had a fake leg.

"Ha. Lots and lots of practice," Arizona replied, nodding her head. "Usually, if someone doesn't know about my leg, they don't notice anything funky when I walk, but I have a pretty noticeable gait difference. It's gotten much better over the years, but it's definitely still there. And you'll totally develop rock solid abs from using your prosthetic so much, so that is an added bonus!"

Briley and Arizona both laughed.

"Great, at least I'll have something to look forward to!" Briley giggled.

"I know it seems hard now. You have a long road ahead, and it seems so daunting and terrifying, but it will all end up alright in the end," Arizona assured her. " I know losing a leg seems like your world is crashing and burning all around you. I thought it was at first too. Since it was all so sudden, I became severely depressed and very angry. At myself, at my doctors, at my wife… pretty much everyone around me. Looking back on it, it tears me apart knowing how rude and downright awful I was to Dr. Callie during the first few months of my recovery. I took everything out on her- like she was the one who physically used the bone saw to remove my infected lower extremity from my body."

Briley stuck her tongue out and squirmed uneasily at how graphic Arizona was being with her description of surgery. Arizona noticed her reaction, but barely acknowledged it before continuing.

"I'm telling you this because I don't want you to be like me. I don't want you to be angry. Crappy stuff happens to us sometimes. That's life. But all that matters is how you react to it, positively or negatively," Arizona advised.

Briley nodded, solemnly listening to every word Arizona said.

"Seriously, though. I promise to not keep you in the dark about anything. I'll show you the good days and the bad days of being an amputee. I've been in that bed; I know the confusion and sadness and anger you're feeling. I know," Arizona nodded sympathetically. "If you have any questions, day or night, never feel afraid to ask me them. I am here to help you, okay kiddo?"

Briley nodded, a soft smile appearing on her face.

"Thank you, Dr. Arizona."

"Anytime, Bri."

Arizona rolled the leg of her pants back down before standing up and heading for the door.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Arizona called as she opened the door.

Briley nodded.

"See ya."

As Arizona made her way back into the hallway, a sense of pride and relief had come over her. For once, being an amputee had come to her advantage. She was now able to be of help to this teenager who was in the same position she was in fourteen years ago.

Arizona was going to do her very best to help Briley in every possible way. Because Callie was right- Arizona could've used someone like her when she was the patient.

…

"I just filled Sofia in on the updates to Briley's case. She just went to bed," Callie informed Arizona as she walked into their bedroom.

"Good. How'd she take it?" Arizona asked as she sat down on the edge of her side of the bed. She pushed up the left leg of her pajama shorts so that she could doff her prosthesis. She leaned her leg against the bedside table next to her and rolled off the silicone liner she wore underneath it and set it on the floor next to the bed. Leaning back, she laid down in bed and cuddled in under the covers.

"Uh, she was upset, but that's to be expected. She was worried about Briley not being able to play soccer anymore," Callie replied.

"Did you tell her that there are many amputees that play sports?"

"Of course I did. I think she was just shocked. I'm sure she'll have come to terms with the situation in the morning."

Callie laid down in bed next to Arizona as she clicked off the lamp, darkening the room.

"Good night. Love you," Callie said to the darkness.

"Night, love you too," Arizona replied.

Arizona rolled on to her side so that she was facing away from Callie. As she tried to fall asleep, her thoughts brought her to how she started the conversation she had had with Briley earlier.

 _Mark was a phenomenal doctor, and quite a funny guy. We didn't always get along, but he loved Sofia and he loved me and Callie._

Though she hated to admit it, with all of the business going on in her life right now, Arizona hadn't really taken the time to miss Mark lately. She knew that he deserved to be kept alive in her mind everyday; she owed that to him. Even though she barely had time for her own thoughts that didn't involve doctoring these days, a part of her felt guilty for not having Mark's memory on her mind, even fourteen years later.

What would he be doing now? Would he have won a Harper Avery? Would him and Lexie have gotten married and had kids? Would Sofia be a big sister?

So many "what ifs" raced through Arizona's mind in the darkness of the bedroom.

Callie was trying to drift off herself when she felt the bed shake a little. She heard Arizona sniffle softly, and she processed what was happening.

Sitting up, she flipped on the switch to the light, illuminating the room. Callie's suspicions were confirmed when she saw that Arizona had curled herself up into a tight little ball and was clutching the duvet in her fist. She was crying, but trying her best to be silent.

"Arizona…" Callie's voice trailed off as her heart broke watching Arizona cry. Callie robbed the blonde's arm. "What's the matter?"  
"I- I miss Mark," came Arizona's reply as she let a sob escape from her throat.

Surprised, Callie slightly gasped before turning the light back off and snuggling up to Arizona. Callie knew that Arizona and Mark had fought like cats and dogs, but they were also like siblings. She knew deep down that Mark's death was equally as hard on Arizona as it was for her.

"I do too," Callie said as she kissed Arizona's shoulder. "I do too."

Callie rested her cheek against Arizona's back as she continued to let all of the emotion she had been keeping in out. Callie intertwined her two feet with Arizona's one, still momentarily confused when her leg brushed against the foreshortened limb.

Callie held Arizona as they both drifted off to sleep, memories of Mark heavy on both of their minds and hearts.

* * *

 **Mark 3**

 **I hope you all liked this one! As always let me know what you think by leaving a review below! I loooooooove to read your thoughts!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Happy New Year, everyone!**

 **Sorry it took me a bit longer to get this update up. I was so busy after the holidays! Without further ado, though, here's Chapter 5! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Arizona had just finished her morning rounds on her inpatient fetal cases when her pager beeped. She handed the tablet she was using to enter patient information back to a brunette nurse named Carla before glancing down to see where she was needed next. Expecting it to be a page to the ER, she was shocked to see that the page was from Alex to meet him in Briley's room.

Arizona's mind immediately went to the worst case scenario if Alex was paging her on a peds case, especially one as complex as Briley's. Arizona shoved her penlight in the pocket on her lab coat before sprinting as fast as her standard prosthetic could carry her up to the peds ward.

When she finally reached the charting station, outside Briley's patient room, she found Alex sitting at the desk with his feet up, entering some files into the computer system.

"Alex!" Arizona called, extremely out of breath. "What's wrong?! What happened, is she okay?" Arizona glanced in the window to the patient room, only to find Briley still asleep in bed.

"Dude, chill. Everything's fine," Alex said, taking his feet down from the table and standing up.

"But you paged me-"

"I paged you because her parents were asking for you. Not 'cause she was circling the drain," Alex assured her. "Relax, Robbins."

Arizona let out a sigh of relief before turning around so that she could go see what was up with Chandler and Nicole. As she was about to enter the room, she saw both parents get up from their makeshift beds on the couch and a rollaway cot and make their way to meet Arizona at the door.

Chandler opened the door, holding it open for Nicole to step into the hallway before closing the door behind himself.

"Sorry. Briley's finally asleep, and she hasn't slept very well since she's been at Grey + Sloan. We want her to stay asleep for as long as possible," Nicole explained their current situation.

"No problem! I'm happy she's finally sleeping. Dr. Karev told me you asked for me?"

"Yes," Chandler cleared his throat. "We just wanted to say thank you. For your conversation with Briley yesterday. It really turned her attitude around and made her start seeing the world in a positive light again."

Arizona smiled and her heart sang.

"Oh, that was no big deal. She's a really great kid, and I just want to help her in any way that I can. I was in her position years ago, and I know how I felt when my world was flipped upside down," Arizona nodded sympathetically.

"Thank you. So much. We had a conversation with her last night, and she is now on board with the surgery. You can schedule it whenever you can fit us in," Nicole informed her.

Arizona walked over to the charting station and picked up an unattended tablet. Pulling up the OR schedules, as well as those of her, Callie and Alex, Arizona booked the pediatric above knee left leg amputation surgery in OR 1 at 3 o'clock.

"How does 3PM sound? We can have her out of surgery by tonight. Her recovery time in the hospital will be about two weeks, but that won't really affect anything since she's inpatient for her treatments right now anyways. This is the perfect timing to do it," Arizona told the Lockes.

Looking at each other, both Chandler and Nicole nodded their heads, eager to have their active sixteen year old on the road to recovery.

"Super. It's booked. When she wakes up, just don't give her anything to eat or drink until after surgery. See you in a bit!" Arizona smiled.

"Thank you again, Arizona," Chandler said to the blonde. "We don't know what we'd do without you and Callie."

"Anytime," Arizona nodded, showing that she meant her words sincerely.

As the Lockes turned to go back into Briley's room, Arizona pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick text to Callie and Alex informing them on the new addition to their surgical schedules today.

Arizona slipped her phone back into her pocket as she headed down to the OR for her fetal spina bifida surgery scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes. She knew she needed to switch her focus to that case, but she couldn't help but nervously anticipate the amputation she'd be assisting on this afternoon.

…

Callie violently scrubbed her hands and forearms with the soap bar as she let the water run. Alex had just finished scrubbing in and had gone to assess Briley on the table. She had just gone under anesthesia minutes earlier, and the only thing keeping the surgery from beginning was Arizona's presence.

Though she couldn't see them from where she was scrubbing, she could sense that the gallery was filling up with spectators. Word traveled fast around the hospital, especially when it involved a leg amputation and Arizona… Even though it had been years since the plane crash, no nurse or doctor had forgotten how the disability had limited Arizona at first. No matter how many amputations she had performed over the last fourteen years, she always tended to have a full gallery so that the nosy medical professionals could see if she could handle it or not.

Callie focused on scrubbing under the nails of her right hand when the door to the scrub room flew open. Callie looked over her shoulder in time to see Arizona take a mask off of the container on the wall and begin tying it around her head.

"Sorry I'm late. My last surgery ran long. Complications," Arizona reported.

"Is everything alright?" Callie asked, wondering about Arizona's tiny patient's well-being.

"Yep, Schmitt and I got everything under control in there," Arizona said, reaching for the other sponge. "Is she already under?"

Callie nodded.

"Damn it. I wanted to talk to her before she went down," Arizona huffed at her own time management.

"She'll be fine. This is a routine- dare I say simple- procedure. She'll be fine, and you'll be fine. Everything will be okay," Callie comforted her wife, as she shut off the water and lifted her arms in front of her as she walked into the OR.

"I know," Arizona whispered to herself as she watched the scrub nurse gown and glove Callie.

Arizona tried her best not to let the swarm of butterflies in her stomach get to her as she stopped the water and entered the OR herself. She was immediately met by the familiar smell of what she can only describe as purity- antibacterial cleanser with a faint smell of bleach- when she entered the room, which helped to calm her down some.

Bokhee handed Arizona a towel to dry off her hands before gowning and gloving her. When Arizona was ready for surgery, she took her position next to Callie, but opposite of Alex, who was technically the lead on this case.

Arizona couldn't help but laugh when she saw Alex's handwriting on Briley's left knee: _THIS LEG. NOT THE OTHER LEG. THIS ONE! :)_ While it was standard for doctors to mark up the part of the body that is being operated on so that no mistake is made in the operating room, Alex always went above and beyond to do silly things like this to make the kids smile during dark times.

"Thanks, Karev. I got the message," Callie laughed from beneath her mask.

After requesting the scalpel from the surgical tech, Alex made the first incision, wiping away the blood with a towel as he went.

The surgery progressed very smoothly. Since this was really only a two surgeon job, Arizona mostly observed and held a clamp or cauterized when she was needed.

When it came time for the bone saw, the butterflies reappeared in Arizona's stomach. There really was no turning back now.

"Remember to make the cut as close as you can to the tumor on the femur without leaving any tumor behind. Leaving her a long residual limb, it'll, uh…" Arizona's voice caught in her throat as it cracked. "It'll make it easier for her to use a prosthetic."

Callie nodded. Though the majority of her face was covered by her surgical mask, Callie could see her eyebrows furrowing over her sad eyes. Alex noticed as well, and a feeling of guilt and regret came over him as he saw the pain on Arizona's face. A pain that he caused. The doctor in him knew that she would've died had she kept the leg, but the friend in him still felt guilty for the time he powered up the bone saw when his mentor was the one intubated on the table.

"I'll level off the bone about three inches above the knee, barring any major unforeseen complications," Alex told Arizona. "How does that sound?"

The pediatric-turned-fetal surgeon hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Good. That's- that's good."

The bone saw was powered up and the sound of the metal blade cutting through bone echoed through the all too quiet OR. When the damage was done, Arizona draped the limb in sterile towels before handing it off to a nurse to be disposed of into medical waste. Callie used the bevel to reshape the end of the bone so that the prosthesis would fit better. After she was finished, Alex began suturing along the incision line. Arizona still studied his sutures to make sure they were clean and even, even though he hadn't technically been her student for over a decade.

Knowing that after the sutures were complete, Callie would help Alex in bandaging up Briley's leg, Arizona stripped off her gloves and excused herself.

"Am I done here? I'd love to go update the parents. I'd rather them hear the final update from me than from an intern."

"Yeah, you're fine," Callie said over her shoulder as she held the leg steady for Karev to stitch up. "Tell 'em that she was a rockstar today."

"I will," Arizona replied as she removed her sterile gown.

…

Arizona walked into the main surgical waiting area where she spotted Chandler and Nicole. Both of their eyes widened at the sight of Arizona coming towards them with a huge super magic smile on her face.

"Everything went great! They are finishing up right now. She should be in recovery in twenty minutes or so!" Arizona reported.

The couple let out a simultaneous sigh of relief at the great news.

"Oh, thank you! That's so great to hear!" Nicole smiled.

Arizona hugged both of Briley's parents.

"Callie said for me to tell you that she was a rockstar in surgery. Couldn't have been smoother!" she told them. "You can head back into the recovery area and wait for her to come out of the OR. It shouldn't be long." Arizona pointed in the direction of the recovery room.

"Thank you again, Arizona. You and Callie are lifesavers," Chandler said, clearly holding back tears.

"Hey, it's what they pay us for, right?" Arizona shrugged with a smile as she parted ways with Briley's parents.

…

It has been two weeks since the amputation of her leg, and Briley was recovering more and more with each passing day. Her incision was healing well and she was showing no signs of edema.

Sofia came to the hospital every day after school to spend time with Briley. Sometimes she brought Briley's schoolwork along and taught her what they'd learned in class that day, but most of the time she was mostly just there to keep her company and keep her mind off of the poisonous chemotherapy coursing through her veins.

Even though she was recovering from surgery, that hadn't hindered her cycles of chemo one bit. Nearly four weeks since her diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma, Briley was halfway through her second round of the treatment and was just starting to see the side effects.

Her normally bronzed skin had turned pale and almost had a grey pallor to it. She had developed dark circles under her eyes and her lips were cracking because they were so chapped. Despite all of this, her famous Briley smile still appeared on her face.

"Hey, you!" Sofia said as she skipped through the door to Briley's patient room.

"Hey!" Briley greeted her friend, delighted to have a visitor to brighten the otherwise boring day. Careful not to unhook any of the IV lines that were administering her treatment, Briley scooted over on the bed so that there was room for Sofia to lay down next to her.

Sofia adjusted the pillows that were elevating Briley's residual limb before climbing up next to her and laying her head on her friend's shoulder.

Neither of them really had anything to say. They had tried to only talk about happy things these last few weeks, but Sofia had run out of distractions to keep Briley's (and her own) mind off of the chemo. They're both sixteen. They know the severity of the situation. And deep down they both also know that there's nothing either of them could do other than to hope and pray and wish that the treatment does it's job. All they could do now is be there for each other because each of them was fighting their own battle.

When Sofia picked her head up from Briley's shoulder, she noticed a tuft of blonde hair on the sheet beside her. Looking up at Briley with concerned eyes, Briley just shrugged.

"It started falling out two days ago. I guess I've gotten to that point in the chemo. It's not really a big deal. It's more a nuisance than anything," Briley shrugged again, but Sofia could hear the hurt in her voice.

Sofia looked around the room, and that's when she noticed the small pile of hair on the floor near the bathroom. Her heart ached for her friend having to lose her gorgeous long blonde locks. Sofia tried to put herself in Briley's position, but she couldn't even imagine losing her hair. That's when she got an idea.

"Oh no…" Briley said, noticing the mischievous grin that had appeared on her friend's face. "What?!"  
"I know something that could be kinda fun…"

Sofia told Briley her idea and she was immediately on board. Sofia texted Alex, and he appeared at the doorway to the hospital room minutes later with exactly what they needed: an electric hair clipper.

Alex helped Briley down into the wheelchair she had been using when she wasn't in her hospital bed. He wheeled her chair into the bathroom attached to the room, wrapped a towel around Briley's shoulders, and plugged in the electric razor.

"Have at it!" He said as he left the two girls alone in the hospital room bathroom.

Sofia picked the clippers off of the counter and took a deep breath.

"You're sure about this, right?"

Briley nodded confidently.

"It's gotta come off sometime. Just go!"  
Sofia pushed the switch and the tool came to life with an annoying whirring noise.

Sofia put it's tip on Briley's hairline and moved her hand slowly towards the back of her neck. A chunk of hair fell to the ground. Briley winced as she felt the loose hair tickle her back as it detached. Opening one eye, she looked up at Sofia who was smiling so big that her dimples were popping out.

"Okay, I don't want to see until the end, so keep going so I don't look deranged!"

Sofia laughed as she continued to buzz Briley's hair off. When she was about halfway finished, she heard the door to the hospital room open.

"Girls?"

Sofia froze. Briley's hand flew to cover her mouth. Both teenagers got chills from the sound of Arizona's voice.

"Girls, what are you- OH MY GOD!" Arizona jumped when she saw what they were up to in the bathroom.

"Sofia Robbin Sloan-Torres! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She yelled. She wasn't mad, just surprised.

"Relax, Robbins. I told 'em they could do it. She asked, and I said yes. Let them have a good time," Alex said, coming to the girls' rescue as he peeked his head in the door.

Just then, Callie also entered the room and stood by Arizona's side as she looked into the bathroom.

"Cool! I've always kinda wanted to shave my head. You look great, Bri!" Callie smiled.

"Callie, you're not exactly helping…" Arizona whispered to her wife, crossing her arms.

"Oh! Wait!" Callie's face lit up. If she had heard Arizona's last comment, she didn't care. Callie ran out into the hallway as Sofia wheeled Briley's chair over so that she could see herself in the mirror.

A little stunned at first, Briley's eyes widened as she took in her new appearance.

"I like it…" Briley's voice trailed off. "It's just a little cold."

With perfect timing, Callie returned.

"Briley, this is for you. We all got you a little something…" she said, handing Briley a gift bag.

A smile appeared on Briley's face as she pushed away the tissue paper and gasped when she revealed three warm cotton beanies. Immediately shoving a grey one on her head, she made a soft smile at her reflection in the mirror.

"Much better! Thank you so much. I love them," she said, giving Sofia a hug.

"Good. I'm glad," Arizona said, uncrossing her arms. "Now we gotta get you back in bed, Little Miss. Your leg will never heal if you're out of bed!"

Helping her from the wheelchair, Callie and Arizona both took a portion of Briley's weight as they slowly walked her back into bed. Sofia resumed her position next to Briley as Callie and Arizona went back out into the hallway.

As she closed the door behind her, she heard both girls laugh. She watched them take silly selfies through the window and her heart melted. And it was in that moment that she knew that Briley would make it through this battle, with Sofia alongside her.

* * *

 **I hope you all liked Chapter 5! A little heartwarming end to make up for last chapter's sadness! :) Please leave all of your thoughts and reviews on this story so far for me to read! I love hearing what you all think!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hey everybody! I'm back with a new chapter! I hope you all like it. I think this might be one of my favorites so far! :)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

"Do you want me to update the family?" Dr. Schmitt, the fellow more commonly referred to as "Glasses" asked Arizona as they both finished scrubbing out of surgery.

"Yes. Thank you, Levi, that'd be great," Arizona nodded. She watched as Schmitt exited the scrub room as she grabbed a blue sterile towel to dry off her hands. Schmitt had recently begun a fetal surgery fellowship under Arizona, and she was having a field day cramming this brain with everything Nicole Herman had passed on to her over a decade ago.

Arizona had just finished up on a mom whose baby had a heart defect. Arizona and Levi fixed the defect and placed the baby back safe and sound to grow for a couple more weeks before he would be delivered.

The surgery was long and stressful, as fetal surgeries usually are, and Arizona had some time to kill. She yawned as she threw away the towel she was using and opened the door to the hallway.

Recognizing what her body was trying to tell her, Arizona made her way to the closest on-call room so that she could take a much needed and much deserved nap. As she headed towards the elevator, aches and pains shot through her residual limb. She had been paged at 2 AM this morning and had been going, going, going since. She hadn't had time to take any breaks, and she was really reaping the consequences now.

Normally, Arizona was too proud to let outsiders know about the pain she was experiencing at moments like these, but knowing that nobody was around to see her, Arizona allowed herself to limp a little until she got to the elevator. She pushed the button that would take her to the Peds ward before leaning back against the wall of the elevator, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure on her residual limb.

Before the pain had a chance to calm itself down, the elevator arrived on the requested floor. Arizona placed her hands in the pockets of her lab coat and plastered a smile on her face before taking a cautious step out of the elevator car. She made a beeline for the on-call room and was relieved when she found it unlocked and empty. Closing the door behind her, Arizona didn't even bother to switch on the light before crawling onto the bottom bunk. Arizona swiftly removed her scrub pants in order to take off her prosthesis. She easily discarded the leg to the floor, then removed the silicone liner she wore with it, before lying down on the bed.

She sucked in her breath as her fiery leg made contact with the cool hospital air. Closing her eyes, and clenching her teeth, she massaged her sore limb with her hands. Usually this was Callie's nightly duty, but Arizona had grown used to doing it herself during times like these, though she _definitely_ wasn't as good as Callie. She winced in pain as she rubbed her sore and overworked muscles, taking one of the pillows from behind her head and placing it beneath her leg.

Arizona set an alarm on her phone for three hours before pulling the blanket up over her legs towards her chin, Arizona calmed her mind and easily fell asleep.

…

Exactly three hours later, Arizona's phone alarm went off. She groaned as she rolled over and reached for her phone to stop the sound from blaring. Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her tired eyes. Placing her left hand on her stump, she gasped when she felt her leg throb. Her skin was red and warm to the touch.

Reaching forward, she picked her liner off of the ground and tried her best to roll it onto her residual limb. It felt way too tight around her leg once it was in place. Arizona tried to adjust it as best as she could, but to no avail. If she couldn't get her liner on, there is no way she would be able to squeeze her swollen limb into the plastic socket of her prosthetic.

"Ugh…" Arizona groaned, tilting her head back to the ceiling. She had definitely overdone it today.

Pulling the liner back off, Arizona reached for her phone and glanced at the time before she dialed Callie's familiar phone number. It was almost time to leave, so she knew that Callie would be searching for her anyway.

After the third ring, she heard Callie's familiar voice.

"Hey, you ready to go? I was just heading up to your office now to come get you," Callie told her.

"Uh… Actually, I'm in the peds on-call… and I need an ortho consult," Arizona informed her. "I took a break after my last surgery and now my leg is too swollen to fit in the socket. Wanna swing by my office and grab my crutches before coming up here?"

Callie laughed. This same situation had happened more often than one would think over the years, so Callie knew the routine.

"Ha. Of course. See you in a bit," Callie replied before hanging up.

Arizona leaned back and propped herself up on her elbows as she waited for Callie to arrive. She didn't have to wait long before there was a knock on the door and her wife appeared, holding crutches and a compression sock.

"Ah. You're a lifesaver," Arizona's face lit up when Callie entered the room.

"You can thank me later," Callie smirked as she handed the crutches to Arizona and kneeled down next to the side of the bed.

Callie pulled the compression sock on to Arizona's residual limb to bring the swelling down before handing Arizona her scrub pants. Arizona slipped them on before rolling up the empty pant leg.

Callie helped Arizona to her feet- erm… foot- and placed the metal crutches under her arms. She bent down to pick up her wife's prosthetic leg before opening the door for her to crutch through.

"Is Sofia still in Briley's room?" Arizona asked with a yawn. She hadn't seen her daughter all day since she was paged long before Sofia was awake for school.

Callie nodded, following Arizona towards Briley's room so that they could collect their kid and take her home for dinner.

Arizona greeted every doctor and nurse she passed as they headed for the opposite side of the ward. Seeing Arizona on crutches hardly phased any of them anymore; they only saw the talented world renowned surgeon that she was.

"Knock, knock!" Arizona said as she crutched into the familiar hospital room. Both heads had turned towards the door when they heard the rhythmic sounds of the crutches on the tile floor.

"Hey, Moms," Sofia said casually before looking back down at the magazine she and Briley had been reading.

"Hi, Dr. Arizona," Briley gave a shy smile. She felt her face heat up. She had never seen Arizona without her prosthetic on before. She then noticed Callie, who was also in the doorway, holding Arizona's leg. "Hi, Dr. Callie."

"Hey, Briley, how are you feeling?" Arizona asked, standing in front of the bed where the girls were seated.

"Pretty good, actually," Briley nodded. She couldn't help but let her eyes wander down to Arizona's missing leg.

"Remember how I said that I would show you the good and bad days of being an amputee?" Arizona asked, acknowledging the elephant in the room.

Briley nodded.

"Well, this is one of the not so pleasant days," Arizona laughed. "I overworked my leg today and I took off my prosthetic during my break, and… it got so swollen that it couldn't fit in the socket!"

Briley's eyes widened and her mouth formed a little "o" shape when Arizona shared this. Sofia rolled her eyes, less than amused.

"I just wanted to drop by before we left to say hi and tell you that every once in a while, your leg will try to give you a tough time, but not to get too discouraged!" Arizona nodded understandingly.

"Thank you for stopping by. I really appreciate it!" Briley said with a soft smile.

"Anytime," Arizona replied, her heart filled with pride. "Okay, Sof, you ready to hit the road?"

Sofia nodded, and hugged her friend before exiting into the hallway with her mothers.

…

"Mornin'," Arizona greeted Callie at the charting station down in the ER. Placing a cup of coffee down in front of Callie, Arizona leaned in for a kiss as Callie put down the tablet she had been working on.

"Hey, babe," Callie smiled when she saw the blonde, despite the bags under her own eyes. "Sorry I snuck out early this morning. Owen paged me for an MVC at 5 AM."

"No worries," Arizona told her, picking up a tablet from the desk so that she could check her schedule for the day. "Everything turn out alright?"

Callie nodded.

"Yup. Everyone's stable. But it's only 10 AM, and if I have to reduce another dislocated joint before lunchtime, I might pass out," Callie complained, taking a sip of the coffee Arizona had brought for her.

Arizona made a face as shifted her feet so that all of her weight was on her real leg rather than on the prosthetic. She scrolled through what she had planned for the day. A couple of consults and one surgery were the only things taking up room in her schedule.

"Hey, your leg okay?" Callie asked with a concerned look, noticing Arizona's uncomfortable shift.

"Yeah. The socket's just been pinching a little since the incident that had me trapped in the on call room the other day," Arizona shrugged without looking up from the tablet.

"You should go down and see Moore. You might be due for a new socket. You haven't gotten a new casting in a while," Callie pointed out, still studying Arizona.

Arizona thought a moment before nodding. Callie was right. It _had_ been a while since she had been fitted for a new leg, and she was due for a new one. Arizona's residual limb would be constantly reshaping itself over the years, and every now and then, the leg she was on would start pinch and chaffe her thigh, indicating that it was time for a new one.

"I'll text David today and see if he can squeeze me in after my surgery."

While Callie was happy that Arizona was taking her advice, she didn't know how she felt about Arizona being on that leg all day.

"You're gonna do surgery on a bum leg? You think you can withstand that?" Callie asked, the ortho surgeon in her coming out.

Arizona rolled her eyes, even though she knew that Callie's heart was in the right place.

"It's just rubbing a little. It's not like the velcro straps are the only thing keeping it on my body!" Arizona laughed. After being an amputee for this long, she knew how to deal with bad leg days. "I'll just change the bandage where it's chafing every couple hours. I'll be fine."

Callie nodded, placing her hand on the small of Arizona's back as she kissed her.

"Okay, well if you're sure you're good, I'm gonna run upstairs and round on my patients. See ya later," Callie waved, making her way towards the elevators.

Arizona admired Callie's ass as she walked away from her and smiled knowing that _that_ was all hers when she got home tonight.

…

Arizona tucked her hands in the pockets of her lab coat as she entered the prosthetist's office. She was immediately greeted by familiar faces.

"Dr. Robbins! Right on time!" David said as she opened the door.

"Hi!" Arizona smiled at the man she had known for years- first in a professional way, then, later on, in a more personal way. "Thanks for fitting me in so last minute!"

"Oh, anytime! We only have one client coming in this afternoon, so we were more than available!" David replied.

Arizona knew the usual routine, having been a patient for so long. She headed over to the exam table across from a set of metal parallel bars. She pulled off her scrub pants, leaving her in only spandex shorts, before sitting down on the table. David rolled a stool over to where she was sitting and took a seat himself. Arizona took that moment to undo the velcro straps that help to keep her leg secured to her body (since her residual limb is so short), and she pushed the prosthesis off in one swift motion. Sliding the liner off as well, she placed it beside her on the table.

David examined her leg, as he had a million times before, before helping her the short distance to the parallel bars. Arizona positioned herself between the bars as David quickly grabbed the plaster and other supplies he would need in order to make the mold.

"It might be a little cold to start off with," David warned as he began the process.

"It's alright," Arizona replied as she steadied herself, one hand on each of the bars next to her.

They talked about cases they had both had recently, and were in the middle of talking about David's daughter's first gymnastic meet when the door to the office opened. Both doctors spun their heads to see who was at the door, and Arizona was pleasantly surprised when she saw a familiar face.

"Hey, Briley!" Arizona smiled as Alex wheeled the teenager into the room.

"Hi, Dr. Arizona!" Briley's face lit up when she saw the blonde doctor, obviously more comfortable in the unfamiliar environment now that she knew she wouldn't be alone.

"We're getting fitted for our first prosthetic today!" Alex grinned as he helped Briley on to the exam table next to the one Arizona was sitting on earlier.

"Oh, that's awesome!" Arizona nodded, hoping to instill some confidence in Briley. "I'm here getting fitted for a new one as well."

"A new one?" Briley cocked her head, confused at what her doctor meant.

"Yes! The shape of our legs are going to change periodically over time, so we'll have to get refitted every once in a while," Arizona explained.

Briley nodded. This was clearly a lot for her to take in, but she was doing the best she could to absorb all of this new information.

"Briley, I'm Dr. Moore," David introduced himself with a smile. "Dr. Carlson will be with you in a minute."

Briley nodded, her bald head bobbing up and down.

"Hey, where are your parents?" Arizona asked her, trying to keep her own mind off of the squishy cold plaster molding to her thigh.

"My dad had to go back to work. His job wouldn't allow him any more days off. And my mom went to go grab lunch. I wasn't hungry enough to eat anything earlier," Briley explained.

Dr. Carlson came over and introduced herself to Briley before explaining to her how the process of fitting a prosthetic would work. She got Briley up and standing on the set of parallel bars next to Arizona as she began the same plaster application that David was about to finish.

"There. Just let it sit for about 20 minutes, then we'll take it off and you'll be good to go," David nodded, scooting the stool away as he left to go clean off the supplies and his hands.

Arizona decided to take this moment to see if there was anything weighing on Briley's mind, or anything she wanted to ask about being an amputee.

"So, Bri… while I've got you hostage here, do you have any questions about anything leg-related? I'd love to answer them for you."

A soft smile appeared on Briley's face, clearly touched by Arizona's kind gesture to have such an open and intimate discussion with her about such a personal topic.

"Um… yeah, actually," Briley said. "Does it hurt to walk with the fake leg?"

Arizona shook her head.

"It'll take some getting used to, but you'll grow accustomed to it pretty quickly. I don't even remember what it was like to have two flesh-and-bone legs anymore. You'll adjust to your new normal, it just takes time." Arizona thoughtfully informed her.

Briley nodded, watching the prosthetist apply the plaster to her shorter leg.

"It'll be even easier for you to learn to walk again than it was for me, since your residuum is longer than mine is," Arizona pointed out.

Briley switched her gaze from her own leg to Arizona's. She was right. Arizona's leg was a good couple of inches shorter than her own.

"Are there legs that look…" Briley's voice trailed off as she searched to find the right words.

"Real?" Arizona finished.

Briley giggled a little as she nodded.

"Yes. There are certain companies that will fit you with a cosmetic prosthesis that will look- and even feel- natural. It's pretty cool stuff."

"Do you have one?"

Arizona nodded.

"I have one for when I wear dresses or heels. I use it pretty frequently, but I wear my normal one more just because it is more comfortable. Oh, and don't think just because you have a plastic leg that heels won't still be uncomfortable to wear! Heels will always be a pain!" Arizona warned with a wink.

Briley smiled, grateful to have somebody she was close enough to to ask all of these personal questions to.

"Anything else on your mind?" Arizona asked, hoping to answer all of Briley's questions before her cast was ready to be removed.

Briley thought for a moment before shaking her head. It was a relief to have gotten some answers to those pressing questions.

"Just know that your life will change, sure. But it doesn't have to be for the worse," Arizona shared. "Your life is what you make of it."

* * *

 **I loooove how Arizona is mentoring Briley! I wish we got to see something like this on the show. We were truly robbed! Arizona is so good with kids and teens and I think she could've been such a great and honest mentor to a new amputee had she been given the chance.**

 **Please leave your reviews and thoughts below for me to read! They truly make my day! Also feel free to leave any suggestions or anything you would like to see in the upcoming chapters of this story!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Thank you for all of the reviews, suggestions, and feedback on my last chapter! It is very much appreciated! I think of all of the chapters, of all of the stories I have written thus far, these last reviews were some of my favorites, thank you! Some of you had some _very interesting_ suggestions that I will definitely be keeping in mind for the coming chapters, I promise!**

 **This chapter is very deep. It may be hard to read. Just know that I am not trying to turn any of you away from the story (I am more than grateful for all of your support!), I just want to make this as realistic as possible. So please bear with me, even when things look a little rocky.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 7

"Good! Take nice, even steps. You're getting the hang of it!"

As Arizona entered the prosthetist's office about a month later, she was elated to see Briley taking her first cautious steps with her new prosthetic between the parallel bars. Dr. Carlson was praising her with every step she took. Arizona stopped in her tracks to watch her progress.

"Okay, now turn around and walk back towards me," the prosthetist advised as Briley reached the end of the parallel bars.

As she slowly pivoted, she noticed Arizona watching her and a huge grin appeared on her face.

"Hi, Dr. Arizona! Look! I'm doing it!" Briley called. Her blue eyes shined with excitement.

"I see that! You're looking good!" Arizona nodded with an encouraging smile.

Just then, Dr. Moore appeared from the back room.

"Oh, hey, Arizona! Good to see you again. You're back to pick up your new prosthesis right?" David checked as he headed over to a table piled with prosthetic legs of various styles and sizes.

Arizona nodded as David picked up the sleek black and silver prosthetic. This new leg was one of many that Arizona had gone through over the years. Since her leg is constantly reshaping itself, she will be getting fitted and refitted for a new prosthetic periodically for the rest of her life. Just another day in the life of an amputee…

Arizona sat down on the exam table and began removing her current leg so that she could test her new one out. David helped her don the prosthesis and put on her left shoe as Arizona velcroed the strap around her waist in order to secure it. When she was ready to go, David moved the stool he was sitting on out of the way and held a hand out for Arizona to help her up.

Arizona tentatively shifted her height from one foot to the other, balancing herself between her good leg and her "bad" leg.

She walked to the opposite side of the room and back, planning her steps out carefully as she got used to the feeling of her new artificial appendage. This leg sure was looser than the last, so it was going to take some adjusting, but she already felt relief from her previous leg that was always giving her blisters.

David nodded as he analyzed his patient's steps.

"It looks good. More comfortable. How does it feel?" he asked her.

"Great. So much better. Thank you!" Arizona said as she made her way back to the exam table.

"Anytime. Let me know if it's too loose or if it starts to pinch or anything," David told her as she put her white lab coat back on.

"I will. See you later!" Arizona waved as she walked back towards the door.

She said goodbye as she passed Briley, who was still practicing on the parallel bars.

"Keep up the hard work, kiddo! It will all be worth it!" Arizona called over her shoulder as she stepped out into the hallway.

Before she walked towards the elevator, she watched through the window as Briley tried taking some steps without holding onto either bar beside her. Arizona watched as Briley giggled as she took tiny, but meaningful, steps.

For the first time in a long time, Arizona thought she had gotten a glimpse of old Briley. Pre-cancer Briley. The carefree and spunky and silly version of Briley that she had known for so long. She was getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. Arizona marveled at how happy Briley looked. And healthy, even!

Arizona felt herself let out a sigh of relief as she continued to watch from the window. In the months that had passed since Briley was diagnosed with the often-deadly Ewing sarcoma, Arizona had been in constant paranoia that things were gonna head south. But today, everything changed. Now, Arizona felt like she could see the light at the end of Briley's tunnel. Arizona's heart soared and she couldn't help but smile as she turned and headed back up to the maternity floor.

…

"Hey, are you on call tonight?" Arizona asked Callie as she crossed paths with her in the ER. It was nearly 10 PM and usually if they had a normal shift, they would have gone home by now.

Callie nodded.

"I'm covering the pit with Parker and Kepner tonight. Not by choice," Callie rolled her eyes, thinking about how she could be home asleep in her bed right now.

"Well, don't be so pessimistic because I'm on call too!" Arizona smiled and gave her wife a peck on the cheek before returning the tablet she had been using to the charging station. "However, I am going to the on call room to catch some Z's before I am paged. Care to join me?"

Callie's frown changed to a flirty smirk at Arizona's offer. Arizona held her hand out to take Callie's to lead her to the trauma on call room where they would be spending the night- until one of them is rudely awoken by a blaring pager that is.

They quickly entered the room and shut (and locked!) the door behind them. They both stripped down into just tank tops and spandex shorts, and Arizona swiftly discarded her prosthetic. The two women giggled as they clambered into the bottom bunk, snuggling into one another under the covers.

"It's been… a while since we've crashed in an on call room together," Callie said as she breathed in the intoxicating scent of Arizona's shampoo.

"Mmmhmm. I've missed it," Arizona replied, resting her head against Callie's chest. "It reminds me of when we were dating."

"Simpler times," Callie sighed. She hugged Arizona in closer beneath the sheets.

Before they knew it, they had both drifted off to sleep, cherishing the warmth of each other's body and listening to the rhythmic beating of each other's hearts.

…

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

The obnoxious sound of a pager going off startled them awake. Momentarily forgetting where she was, Callie jolted up in bed, whacking her head on the top bunk.

"Ow! Damn it!" She cursed, immediately bringing her hand up to rub her sore forehead as the pagers continued to beep.

"Is it yours or mine?" Arizona sleepily asked, not even registering her wife's minor injury.

"It's…" Callie started as she got out of bed to turn on the light so she could see whose noisy pager had woken them up from their peaceful slumber. She made a growly noise. "Both of us."

Arizona, who was still lying in bed, whined as she rolled over and wrapped her pillow around her face in an attempt to silence the alarms. Callie walked over and pried Arizona's fingers off of the pillow and shoved her pager in her hand.

"Is it the pit?" Arizona asked, her voice muffled from the pillow still on top of her head.

"It's…" Callie began as she checked the name that appeared on the screen. She made a confused face as she realized who was paging them. "Karev?"

"Karev?!" Arizona asked, throwing the pillow down, suddenly alarmed. "Why would he be paging both of us?"

Callie slipped on her scrub pants before pulling her top over head.

"It must have something to do with Briley."

Arizona's heart raced as she quickly donned her prosthetic before getting changed herself. Glancing at her watch, she noticed that they had only been sleeping for less than an hour and a half, but somehow, that was just the power nap she needed. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins.

A minute of two later, both women were ready to go and they jogged up to the peds floor to find Alex. Both women hoped, prayed, and wished that this page wasn't about Briley, but deep down they both knew it was.

The elevator dinged and they arrived on the pediatric floor. The floor was mostly dark and quiet, how it usually was at night because of the sleeping young patients. There was no sign of Alex anywhere, and both women subconsciously held their breath as they approached Briley's hospital room.

The light was on and, sure enough, there was Alex, consoling a sobbing Briley. Chandler and Nicole stood concerned at Briley's bedside. Callie and Arizona exchanged a worried look before entering the room.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on in here?" Arizona asked in her soft soothing voice, perfect for comforting kids.

"She's spiked a fever. The side effects of the chemo are coming in full force, and she's feeling it's wrath," Alex filled them in on the current situation as he rubbed Briley's back. Briley was sitting up in the hospital bed, leaning over a plastic vomit bowl, crying hysterically, while scratching at her nearly translucent skin.

"Her mouth is so blistered that it hurts to eat, so she hasn't been," Nicole informed the women.

Arizona nodded.

"Hey, Bri, will you open your mouth for me?" Arizona asked.

Briley held up her tear streaked face and reluctantly opened her mouth. Arizona used her penlight to get a better view. Just as Arizona had expected, her lips, cheeks, gums, and tongue were covered with gushing open wounds.

"She's experiencing oral mucositis- mouth sores- from the chemotherapy," Arizona told them.

"The chemo regimen she's on can cause mouth sores. That's because these cancer treatments are intended to kill rapidly growing cells, such as cancer cells. Some healthy cells in your body also divide and grow rapidly, including the cells that line the inside of your mouth. Unfortunately these healthy cells are also damaged by chemotherapy. And damage to the cells in your mouth makes it difficult for your mouth to heal itself and to fend off germs, leading to sores and infections," Callie patiently explained.

Chandler and Nicole's jaws dropped. They knew that the chemo could cause hair loss, but didn't know about any of it's other side effects.

"It's very, very painful, but we can't do much to treat it. They usually pass on their own after a bit of time," Arizona sighed, wishing there was some magic remedy that could heal Briley.

Glancing down into the vomit bowl in front of her, Arizona could clearly see that Nicole was right about Briley not having eaten today. All Briley had thrown up was bile and blood.

"She wasn't warm until a half hour ago, and then she started throwing up. She's just in so much pain, I didn't know what to do except have you all paged."

"You did the right thing," Callie said, placing a comforting hand on Nicole's arm.

"It burns!" Briley yelped as she continued to scratch her skin, writhing uncomfortably in the bed.

"I know, sweet girl. I know it does. I'm sorry," Arizona did her best to soothe Briley, knowing all too well from years of experience that the poisonous treatment coursing through her veins made it feel like her insides were burning.

Arizona took her stethoscope off from around her neck and placed it in her ears. Alex moved out of the way so that she could listen to Briley's breath sounds. Briley jumped and cried out with pain as the cold stethoscope made contact with her tingling skin.

Arizona directed her attention to Nicole and Chandler as she placed her stethoscope back around her neck.

"The mouth sores, the nausea, and the burning sensation are all normal side effects from the chemotherapy she is on. As painful as it is, these side effects can't be prevented or treated effectively," she explained.

"This is all due to the fact that there hasn't been an advancement in research or treatments for childhood cancer in over 30 years. This stuff is outdated, but there's no funding to look into safer and less toxic treatments. So this is what we've got. And it sucks," Alex elaborated.

"Let's order more morphine STAT," Arizona turned to Alex.

Alex shook his head.

"She's maxed out on pain and nausea meds. She's maxed out on everything! This is as much relief as she's going to get," Alex reported.

Arizona's face saddened as she bit her lower lip. Nothing hurt her heart more than knowing that there was nothing more she could do for her patient.

"Okay, well… Get her something to bring her fever down and give her some supplemental oxygen," Arizona said.

Alex nodded before directing his next statement to Chandler and Nicole.

"I'm going to have to insert a nasogastric tube into Briley's nose. It's a type of feeding tube that will continue to give her the nutrients she needs while her mouth is hurting. It'll be a bitch to put in, but it will help her tremendously in the long run."  
Her parents nodded.

"Do whatever you need to do," Chandler told him, placing an arm around his wife.

Callie and Arizona watched as Alex got prepped. They couldn't help but focus their attention on Briley. She was in so much pain that she was oblivious to what was going on around her. The normally tall sixteen year old looked so small and frail in the hospital bed. She just looked… sick.

Arizona couldn't help but think back to earlier that morning when she had passed by her in the prosthetist's office. She was so bubbly and full of vibrance! This was a completely different girl than she had ran into thirteen hours ago. The girl in front of her was drastically different… and rapidly declining right before her eyes.

"Hey…" Alex called out to Callie and Arizona, snapping them out of their thoughts. "I've got this from here. You can go."

Alex knew that inserting an NG tube was an uncomfortable procedure- for the patient, the doctor, and onlookers alike. Arizona knew that he was giving them an out so that they wouldn't have to watch Briley's indescribable pain as a flexible plastic tube was shoved up her nose and down her esophagus directly into her stomach.

Callie and Arizona glanced at each other. Callie knew that an internal battle was unfolding in Arizona's mind right now. Part of her wanted to stay to support the Lockes through this unimaginable time, but another part of her wanted to give the family as much privacy as she could. Callie gave Arizona a sympathetic nod as she placed a comforting hand on the small of her back. Both women silently left the room, making sure to close the door behind them.

As they walked down the dark hallway, they were both lost in their own thoughts. They both stared blankly ahead as they heard Briley's screams stop for a moment before starting up again, louder than ever.

The tube is being inserted, they both thought to themselves, shuddering as they imagined the procedure being done to them.

* * *

 **Woah.**

 **I know that was scary and concerning and hard to wrap your mind around. I know. I could have just overlooked that part and had Briley just come off as a one-dimensional smiley little bald kid who just _happens_ to have this thing called cancer, but I didn't want to do that. Because what good would ignoring the situation have done for any of us?**

 **Part of the reason I wanted to tell this story was because I wanted to show the reality of childhood cancer. And the reality is that children with cancer are dying everyday in the US because research is vastly underfunded. Only 3.8% of the budget that is donated towards cancer research from the US government is donated to all childhood cancers combined. 3.8%. Because of this, 46 children are diagnosed with a form of childhood cancer every day in the US, and 7 will die. Due to lack of research, they are suffering through decades old treatments and their severe side effects just for the possibility of surviving. This _can not_ continue.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even if some of it was hard to read. It took a lot out of me to write this, so I would very much enjoy it if you all left reviews, comments, and suggestions! You guys are the best!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **I'm back with another update! Thank you all for all of your amazing reviews from last chapter. I know it was hard to read, but I am pleased to see that you are all still liking the story!**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Callie and Arizona had spent the rest of the night like living zombies. While they were there physically, their minds were elsewhere wondering about Briley. Each woman was paged a few times for their respective specialties, but nothing was serious, just as they had expected for a calm Tuesday night. Their idle hands caused the night to drag on, leaving them a lot of time to wallow in their thoughts.

After checking in on all of her surgical patients for the tenth time that night, Arizona eventually retreated to the safety of her office. She had too much on her mind to sleep, and felt too nauseous to eat anything. She was all caught up on her filing and charting, so she just sat on her couch with her feet up on the coffee table. She rested her head in her hands and sighed in defeat. She tried her best not to let her mind wander off too much, but it proved to be difficult.

Little did Arizona know, Callie was experiencing nearly the same mixture of boredom and sadness as she was. The pit in her stomach was growing bigger with each minute that passed. She had been paged a couple of hours ago for an incoming MVC, and went to the OR with April and Casey for a quick procedure to put pins in the elbow of her patient. Even during the relatively simple and routine surgery, she couldn't bring herself to focus on the task at hand.

"Torres, you good?" April had asked during the operation. "I have Parker, so we're good here if you need to go."

Even beneath her multicolored floral scrub cap and surgical mask, Callie could see the concerned look on the redhead's face.

Callie shook her head, attempting to snap herself out of whatever funk she was in.

"No. I'm good," Callie had replied.

She had finished up her surgery, silently scrubbed out, and wandered around the hospital looking for her wife. She knew that she would find comfort in being in the presence of someone experiencing the same heavy heart as she was feeling.

When Callie didn't see Arizona on the maternal-fetal floor or in the NICU, she had a feeling that she was hiding out in the privacy of her own office. Callie couldn't blame her for wanting to be alone in a time like this.

When she approached the closed office door, she hesitated a second before she brought herself to knock.

"Come in," was Arizona's toneless reply.

Callie quietly entered the room, and Arizona made room for Callie beside her on the couch. Arizona stared straight ahead as Callie sat down. Callie tucked a piece of blonde hair that had become loose from Arizona's braid behind her ear. Arizona hardly noticed. Eventually, she broke the deafening silence in the room.

"I hate this," Arizona stated. "This desolate, empty, unsure feeling."

Callie nodded understandingly. She felt the exact same way.

"I haven't felt a… grief like this since…" Callie's voice drifted off as she tried to think back. "Since Mark was on life support. And you were dying of the infection. And I had nowhere else to go except back and forth between your rooms."

Arizona's heart sank hearing the pain in Callie's voice as she shared the memory.

Checking her watch, Callie noticed that their seemingly everlasting marathon shift was nearly over. She could see the first rays of sunlight shining through the crack in the shades that covered the small office window.

"What do you say we get outta here a little early and see Sofia before she hops on the bus?" Callie offered.

For the first time all night, she saw a small smile appear on Arizona's tired face.

"I'd like that," she replied.

Callie stood up, extending a hand out to help Arizona up.

Arizona smiled gratefully at her wife's thoughtfulness, and reached out, taking Callie's hand in hers.

Arizona grabbed a zip-up Grey + Sloan Memorial Hospital sweatshirt off of her desk chair and zipped it up as Callie held the office door open for her. Following Arizona out, Callie shut off the light before letting the door close shut behind her.

Though they only live about ten minutes from the hospital, the drive home felt like an eternity. The ride was mostly silent until Callie turned on to their street. Arizona placed her hand on Callie's right thigh. Callie glanced over at her to see what was up.

"Let's not… tell Sofia. About Briley. Not yet," Arizona said. She swallowed and her big blue eyes widened.

Callie nodded in agreement.

"Of course. We won't say anything until we have good news. Or at least until we know more."

Arizona nodded, taking in a sigh of relief as Callie pulled into their driveway.

When they unlocked the front door and let themselves inside, they found Sofia sitting at the kitchen counter eating breakfast. Sofia's face lit up when she saw them.

"You're home!" She exclaimed, leaving her half-eaten bowl of cereal as she jumped up to run and give her mothers good morning hugs. She hadn't expected that she would see them before she went off to school.

"We wanted to give you a kiss before you left for the day," Callie told her, looking over to Arizona to second her statement.

Arizona snapped out of the daze she was in. She smiled and nodded.

"Right," she confirmed.

"Well, you're just in time," Sofia said as she noticed the yellow school bus pull up outside the house through the window. She swung her backpack over her shoulder as she kissed Callie and Arizona before running out the front door.

"Pay attention in class! Make good choices! Love you!" Callie called after her as the door slammed shut.

Callie and Arizona set their bags at the bottom of the staircase and headed upstairs to their bedroom. They quickly changed into loungewear and headed to bed. Over the years, going to bed at 7 AM had become a frequent occurrence that they had become accustomed to. Usually, it was easy to drift off after such a long overnight shift. Not today.

Callie and Arizona assumed their usual sleeping roles, with Callie as the big spoon and Arizona as the little one. The position felt familiar. Safe. The skin on skin contact made them both forget about everything bad going on in their lives. There were no worries or burdens when they were in each other's arms. And that was all they needed. To remember that they were okay.

…

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Callie and Arizona immediately opened their eyes, awoken by their obnoxiously loud alarm clock.

Rubbing her eyes, Callie sat up and glanced at the time. 3 PM. Seven hours of sleep would have to do it for today. Callie stood up and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth as Arizona used the hair elastic on her wrist to tie her hair up into a messy low bun. She sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the metal crutches she kept by her bedside.

Even though the events of last night were still lingering on their minds, both women were definitely in a happier and more positive mood today. They walked downstairs and made themselves "breakfast" (or was it a late lunch?). Callie started the coffee machine, while Arizona popped two bagels in the toaster. After seventeen years worth of mornings together, they worked in synchronization with one another without even needing to say a word.

When the coffee was brewed and the bagels were spread with cream cheese, they sat down at the table and ate their food. Arizona flipped through a magazine, while Callie opted to read a medical journal.

"How'd you sleep?" Callie asked Arizona, taking a bite of her bagel.

Arizona looked up from the article she was reading.

"Good. Well, as good as you can after a depressing night shift like that," Arizona replied. "You?"

"Good."

Small talk was always a little uninteresting and bland after they woke up, as neither of them identified as morning people. Both women continued on with their reading materials until they were interrupted by the sudden ringing of Arizona's cell phone.

Glancing at the caller ID, she nearly gasped when she saw Alex's contact name on the screen.

"It's Karev," she told Callie as they shared a shocked look.

"Answer it!" Callie said.

Arizona clicked the "accept" button and put the phone on speaker.

"Alex? What's up?" Arizona said into the phone's microphone.

"Hey. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No. No, we were already awake. How's Briley? What's going on?"

"Is Cal there? Both of you should hear this."

"She's here. I have you on speaker phone," Arizona assured him.

"Briley deteriorated overnight. She's in the early stages of septic shock. We just transferred her to the PICU," Alex informed them through the phone.

Both Callie and Arizona's jaws dropped at the news. Callie covered her face with her hands and Arizona's eyes filled with tears. She tried to comprehend what Alex had just said and attempted to find the words needed to respond. Callie rested one of her hands on Arizona's arm for support.

"What are… What are you doing to treat it?" Arizona's voice cracked as she tried to keep her composure.

"We've got her on antibiotics, steroids… if she continues to go south we'll have to intubate her."

Callie let out a little cry as Arizona began to slightly hyperventilate. Neither of them wanted to picture Briley, who was like their second daughter, intubated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. It was too much.

"Thanks… for telling us. Please keep us updated," Arizona told him after a minute. "We're both off today, but we'll be back at work tomorrow. Please let us know if anything changes."

"I will," Alex replied.

"Promise?"

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. Callie and Arizona grasped each other's hands.

"I promise," Alex agreed.

Letting out a sigh of relief that neither woman knew they were holding. The call ended and both Callie and Arizona dissolved into tears. They knew that in just a half hour, Sofia would be home from soccer practice and they would need to be strong while delivering her this news.

But for now, they were allowing themselves to release every emotion and not hold any back. Callie and Arizona hugged each other very tightly, for a very long time. Both wondering the same things: how could this be happening? How is this happening to someone- a child!- who didn't do anything wrong to deserve this suffering? How is this fair?!

Neither of them knew what to do except cry. Any positivity they had when they had woken up thirty minutes ago was now diminished. They both were well aware that this may just be the beginning of the end.

…

"I'm home!" Sofia called from the front door. She dropped her backpack and her soccer bag off in the kitchen before wandering into the living room where she found her moms cuddling under a blanket on the couch.

Callie was sitting up, her elbow resting on the arm of the couch with her head in her hand. Arizona had spread herself out along the rest of the couch with her head on Callie's lap. They had turned on _American Bake-Off_ but neither of them were paying attention to the television show. They both had way too much on their minds to worry about which contestant's steak was more juicy.

"How was school?" Callie asked, managing a small smile when Sofia entered the room.

"Good," came Sofia's monotonous answer as she stepped over the crutches laying haphazardly on the floor so that she could sit down on Arizona's end of the couch.

Sofia was confused because she rarely ever saw her moms relaxing like this. Not in the middle of the day, at least.

"Hey, why aren't you guys dressed in scrubs? Aren't we leaving for the hospital in a few?" she asked.

Sofia had become so accustomed to her new daily routine consisting of school, soccer, then visiting Briley at Grey + Sloan. Why weren't her mothers ready to go? Didn't they know that it's nearly 4 PM?

"We're not going to go to the hospital today, Sof," Arizona replied, sitting up and motioning for Briley to sit between her and Callie.

Sofia sat down between her mothers, looking from Callie to Arizona.

"What's going on? Did something happen?"

Callie and Arizona's eyes locked, as if to say _Do you want to tell her, or should I?_

Arizona brought her right leg up and put her heel on the cushion. She bent her leg so that she could rest her chin on her knee. Callie shut off the TV.

"Sofia, you know that cancer treatments can be very harsh on a person's body... " Callie began.

"And they can be especially tough on a child's body," Arizona interjected.

"Yes," Callie confirmed. "The chemotherapy can make a patient very nauseous and cause them to throw up a lot, and it makes their immune system very weak. A weakened immune system causes the patient to be more at risk for all kinds of infections. Even the common cold can be fatal."

"I know that," Sofia said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "But why are you telling me this?"

"She's telling you this because…" Arizona started, searching her mind for the best words to use to break this tough information down for her daughter. "Because Briley got very, very sick last night."

Sofia's eyes widened with concern for her friend.

"What happened? Is she going to be okay?" Sofia began to panic.

"She spiked a fever and her body went into septic shock because the chemo wiped out all of the good cells that fight off diseases," Callie explained. "Alex had her moved into the PICU this afternoon."

Sofia's big brown eyes welled up with tears as she processed this news. As she began to cry, Arizona couldn't help but see the striking resemblance between her and Callie. Callie had looked just like their sixteen year old daughter about an hour before when she had first heard this update herself.

Callie wrapped her arm around Sofia and hugged her in close, stroking her silky brown hair as she let out her emotions. Arizona rubbed Sofia's back to show her that she was there for support as well.

After a couple of minutes of letting Sofia cry it out, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Looking at both of her parents, she asked:

"So where do we go from here?"

Arizona couldn't help but be taken aback by her daughter's maturity at a time like this. Briley's diagnosis had come as a shock to the system for all three of them, and they would have understanded if Sofia was a full-on train wreck. But surprisingly enough, she seemed to be taking this whole situation better than her mothers.

Callie was equally as shocked as Arizona.

"Um. Well, Alex has her on a bunch of different medications right now to try to fight the infection. She had a feeding tube inserted yesterday, and she's using a nasal cannula for oxygen," Callie said, tucking a piece of Sofia's hair behind her ear. "If she begins to get better, she'll be moved back to the regular peds floor in a few days."

Sofia nodded, taking in all of the information.

"However, if she continues to deteriorate, she could be looking at weeks, if not months, in intensive care. We're hoping she has that kind of time," Arizona added.

Sofia's heart rate quickened.

"What do you mean you're 'hoping she has that kind of time'?!" Sofia demanded, panic arising in her voice. "Is Briley going to die?!"

Up until this very moment, Sofia knew her friend was sick, she just never saw her as _sick_ sick. Yeah, she had lost her hair and her leg to this invasive cancer, but there was never a moment where Sofia ever doubted that Briley would make it out alive. Now she wasn't so sure.

"We just don't know how things will play out in the coming days. Everything about Bri's case is just so unpredictable-" Callie began to explain before Sofia cut her off.

"But she's strong enough, right? She'll be one of the success stories, right? You both said that you've treated her type of cancer successfully before, so why can't you just do it again?!"

"Sof, it's not that simple. I wish it was, but each case is very different-" Arizona said, trying to take Sofia's hand in her own. Sofia pulled her hand away.

"What ever happened to kids 'recovering faster and surviving worse'?! Huh? What happened to that?!" Sofia retaliated, using air quotes when she referenced the words Arizona always used to describe the patients she treated in peds.

"Sofia Robbin Sloan-Torres!" Callie scolded her. Sofia immediately regretted her words after seeing the hurt look on Arizona's face.

Sofia's statement had stung much more than any of them had expected it to because, in part, she was right. What ever happened to the miracles and magic of peds surgery?

"Modern medicine has only advanced so much. There is still no cure for cancer, only treatments. Most are risky, and with every case as unique as they are, what works for one patient may not work for another," Arizona patiently expressed. "Oncology is just one big guessing game. It's like an experiment, and there are no guaranteed good outcomes. And it… it sucks."

Sofia processed her mom's words, even though they felt like a dagger in her heart.

"And I can't see her?" Sofia asked quietly, a quiver present in her voice.

Arizona sadly shook her head.

"Not while she's in the PICU."

"What if… what if she never gets to leave the PICU? What if she dies in there and I don't get to say goodbye?!" Sofia's voice cracked as she imagined the unfathomable.

Callie and Arizona exchanged a glance. Neither one of them knew what to say. How do you comfort your teenage daughter when her friend is on their deathbed?

"You know what? We are so far from that happening. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. How does that sound?" Callie replied, hugging Sofia and kissing the top of her head.

Sofia shrugged, standing up from her spot on the couch.

"I'm… going to bed," Sofia stated as she walked towards the staircase.

Callie and Arizona exchanged a glance. It was not even dinner time yet, but both of them knew that nobody would be hungry anyway.

As they heard Sofia's bedroom door close, Arizona and Callie resumed the original position they had been lying in before Sofia had returned home. Arizona once again rested her head in Callie's lap. They sat in silence for a moment or two, both finally wrapping their heads around what they had just explained to Sofia.

Briley might not make it.

Callie held her head up with one hand, and Arizona's hand in the other. They're doctors. Both of them have seen what people with cancer look like in their final days of life, and it isn't pretty. Seven kids in the U.S. lose their battle with cancer everyday, and the thought of Briley being part of that terrifying statistic scared the life out of them. It always seemed like this kind of stuff only happens to _other_ people… never to someone you know.

"She was fine just the other day… she was full of energy. She was walking on a prosthetic! I thought we were in the clear from all of the dark stuff! I thought she had made it to the other side!" Arizona remarked out loud, still in disbelief.

Callie shook her head. Arizona's heart is so big, and that's something that she loved about her, but she can get her hopes up and get carried away too often.

"Arizona, you worked in peds for years. You know how fast things can happen. How fast infection can set in and patients can deteriorate. You know the horrifying statistics for Ewing's. You know."

Arizona sighed, admitting defeat.

"I know… But I always believed that Briley would be in that 25% that survived."

* * *

 **Phew. That was hard to write. Poor Sofia. Poor Calzona. _Poor Briley_.**

 **Please leave all of your thoughts on this chapter (and this story in general!) below for me to read. Reading them makes me so happy and gives me so much motivation to write.**

 **I am looking forward to seeing what you are all thinking of this story!**

 **XOXO Arizona Robbins MD**


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi everyone! Thank you for all of your amazing and thoughtful reviews on the last chapter. Some of you asked to see more of how Sofia is affected by Briley's current condition, so I touched upon that in this next chapter.**

 **I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

"Wake up, Sof, it's time to start getting ready for school," Arizona gently nudged her sleeping daughter.

Sofia rolled over onto her side and covered her face with her pillow. She had definitely inherited her Mama Callie's sleeping habits.

"I'm not getting up," she replied. Arizona rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you are. Because your mother and I have to be at work in an hour, so that means you have to catch the bus," Arizona reminded her.

"I'm _not_ going," Sofia repeated, making herself very clear.

"Sofia, I am not messing around-" Arizona began, feeling her blood pressure rise.

"Up! Now!" Callie scolded as she stuck her head into Sofia's bedroom.

"Ugh! I don't want to go to school if Briley can't go!" Sofia yelled back, throwing her pillow across the room.

Even though it had been a few months since Briley had last been in school with her, it hadn't affected her until now. At least, she never let on that it did. But now, Sofia was standing her ground, adamant that she would not be getting on the yellow school bus today.

"You're out of here in twenty minutes! I don't care if you are ready or not- you are getting on that bus!" Callie called as she went down the stairs.

Sofia groaned and got out of bed as Arizona left her room.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Arizona said, following Callie into their bedroom. "I was handling the situation. She was getting on board."

"Yeah, well at this point, she doesn't have to be on board. She has to be getting ready to go to school, and you should be getting ready for work!" Callie said, throwing a pair of scrubs to Arizona, who caught them mid-air.

Normally, they would wear street clothes to work, and change into their navy blue scrubs when they got there, but today they were running late.

"Now I have to swoop in and be the bad cop because apparently that's the only way anything gets done around here!" Callie said, pulling her scrub top over her head and adjusting her silver heart necklace.

"She's going through a tough time, Callie. We should show her a little compassion. She's-"

"She'll be fine. You and I feel the same way, and you don't see us throwing a fit about having to go to work!"

"Calliope."

"Arizona. We can not treat her like a toddler. If we let her stay home this time, what will she do when she's an adult in the workforce? Refuse to get out of bed because she doesn't feel like it?! This is a life lesson that she needs to learn," Callie said sternly, tying her hair up in a ponytail. "Sulking won't do her any good."

Arizona took a deep breath and bit her lip. She hated to admit it, but Callie had a point. Maybe she was coddling her a little.

…

"Hey, what's going on? How is she?" Arizona asked as the couple approached Alex in the hospital's lobby.

He shook his head.

"She was touch and go all night. It was rough, I'm gonna be honest. She's strong as hell, though. She's fighting," Alex replied.

Arizona and Callie exchanged a glance. That was not the update that they had been hoping for.

"How are the parents holding up?" Callie asked, laying a protective hand around her wife's waist. Arizona leaned into her.

"Uh… I've seen worse. But they're definitely frazzled," Alex informed her.

"I'm gonna make a mental note to stop by there later today after my first surgery. Check up on 'em," Callie told Arizona. Arizona nodded.

Just then, Alex's pager buzzed. He read the message on the screen before shoving his pager in his lab coat pocket.

"You might wanna check up on them right now. 911. It's Briley," he said with a worried look on his face.

The three surgeons sprinted up the closest set of stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. They dodged visitors and other members of the hospital staff as they raced towards the peds floor.

When they reached Briley's room, they were hardly out of breath.

"What happened?!" Alex asked the nurse that was attending to the beeping machines.

"She was alert, albeit tired, a second ago, then she passed out," the nurse reported. "Mom hit the call button, so I came in and felt her pulse. It's very weak."

Immediately knowing which duties to take on, the adrenaline coursing through their veins allowed Alex, Callie and Arizona to work in harmony, even after the cardio workout they just had.

Briley's frail body shook as she began to seize. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

"Torres, get that airway!" Alex called, handing her an intubation kit.

"On it!" Callie said as she used the laryngoscope for better vision as she guided the endotracheal tube down Briley's throat.

"Hey, Chandler, Nicole, I know this is scary, but we've got this. We've got her. Just stand against the wall for me," Arizona nodded, pushing them back away from the bed so that the doctors and nurses had room to get the situation under control.

"Temp's 104. Serum lactate is 6. She's crashing!" Alex called out her stats to the nurses. "Get her on triple antibiotics, pressors, everything!"

Nurses rushed about the room, all attending to different, but equally as important, duties. The machines in the hospital room continued to sound loudly as they worked.

"Ventilator's on!" Callie said, using medical tape to secure the tube to Briley's ghostly pale face.

All of a sudden, the machines stopped blaring and returned to their normal periodic beeps and blips.

"Heart rate's down. BP is 70 over 40 and rising," Arizona announced as she read the numbers off of the machines.

Everybody in the room took a collective relieved deep breath as a sense of calmness fell over the room. That was a close one.

"What happened?!" Nicole asked, a tear streaming down her face. She had never been more scared than she just was, watching her baby seize right before her eyes.

"Her organs are beginning to shut down as a result of the sepsis. We've hooked her up to life support machines, specifically this ventilator to help her breathe," Alex explained.

"The infection is getting worse instead of better, despite all of the medications we have her on," Arizona said, trying to keep her brave face while sharing this heartbreaking news with her friends.

"So… This is the end?" Chandler asked with a quiver to his voice.

Callie furrowed her eyebrows and closed her eyes, before nodding her head with a sigh.

"I'm afraid we've done all that we can do."

Callie, Arizona and Alex watched as the Lockes embraced one another as they broke down. This was it. The harsh effects of pediatric cancer were about to take their one and only child.

The doctors left the room to give the family some privacy. Glancing at her watch, Callie groaned as she kissed her wife on the cheek.

"Their prepping for my 10:30 surgery. I have to go. I love you. Call me if anything happens," she instructed as she headed for the elevators.

Arizona nodded as she watched her wife leave. As the elevator doors, closed, Arizona rested her elbows on the countertop of the charting station, and bent down to cover her face with her hands.

Alex saw her body shake as she silently sobbed. He rubbed her back to help calm her down. A minute later, Arizona straightened herself out, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She was on duty, she couldn't let herself be affected by this. She had moms and babies to save.

"Damn it," she said under her breath as she and Alex watched the Lockes through the window. "I wish they hadn't had to see her like that. That'll be imprinted on their minds forever."

Alex was silent as he stood next to Arizona. He tried to gather his thoughts before he turned to her, unsure of how she was going to react to what he was about to say.

"You looked exactly like that. When you crashed. I had just come to deliver you a piece of Chunky Stu's pizza when all of a sudden your eyes rolled back and you started seizing. Your everything was through the roof, and Callie was in surgery, and I thought we were gonna freakin' lose you. You almost died right in my arms."

Arizona switched her gaze from Briley's parents to Alex's face. She had been in that exact same situation as Briley, and never even realized it. Arizona had never heard this story before, and she had certainly not known how it had affected Alex.

"I…" she didn't even know how to respond. What do you say to something like that? "Thank you. For saving me."

It had taken her an extremely long time to come to terms with her life after the plane crash. She had thought that her life was over. But looking back on it now, a new chapter was just beginning. And she had Alex to thank for that.

"No. Don't do that. We don't have to do this. It was a long time ago, and we've both moved on…" Alex shook his head.

Arizona smiled. She smiled a real smile for the first time in a long time. Her dimples popped in her cheeks as she beamed up at Alex.

But the happiness that had washed over her left as quickly as it came, and she turned her attention back to watching the Lockes grieve over Briley's current state. Chandler stroked his daughter's hair and kissed her forehead as Nicole held her hand.

"Hey, I've got nothing scheduled in my department today, so please just load me up with any peds cases you don't want. I'll be your scut monkey, I don't care. I just need to keep my mind off of… this," Arizona said.

Without hesitation, Alex handed her a pile of patient charts.

"That should do it!" he said as he walked off to go meet his first patient of the day in pre-op.

Arizona could barely see over the stack of charts in her arms. She was relieved to have this many different outlets to invest her time and mind into today so that she wasn't constantly worrying about the Locke family. It was going to be a long, uninteresting day, but she was ready to attack it head on.

…

After scrubbing out of her double hip replacement surgery, Callie realized that it was nearly 6 PM. Almost an entire day had passed since she had left Arizona and Alex outside of Briley's hospital room, and she still hadn't heard any updates from them.

Tossing her hand towel in the waste bin, Callie texted her wife, wondering what she had been up to all day. They always texted each other updates throughout the day, and it was a very rare occurrence when they didn't. Today happened to be one of those days.

 **Hey. Just left the OR. Where R U?**

Callie texted Arizona a quick message before returning her phone to her pocket. She figured that if Arizona had had such a busy day that she hadn't heard from her, she must have been paged to the emergency room. So, that's exactly where Callie headed.

When she reached the ER, Callie looked around but didn't see the shorter blonde anywhere. She checked each trauma room, each bed, and the ER board. Nothing.

Callie got a sort of uneasy feeling in her stomach. Where could she be? She decided to go check the OR board to see if her name was on any of the schedules. She made her way across the hospital to the surgery ward, with still no sign of Arizona.

As Callie was studying the surgical schedule, Alex turned the corner with his head down looking at his cell phone.

"Karev!" Callie called, jogging over to him. "Have you heard from my wife?"

Alex looked up from his phone and shook his head.

"Not since this morning. She told me to bury her in peds cases because her day was super light. She's probably up there in Pediatrics," Alex said, shrugging and returning his gaze back towards his phone's screen.

Callie groaned as she turned on her heel and went back in the direction she came from. Between her run up to Briley's room this morning and her wild goose chase around the hospital looking for Arizona, she really was getting a cardio workout in today!

Just after she pressed the call button for the elevator, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Taking it out, she read the message on the screen:

 **Attending's lounge on 4.**

Callie nodded to herself as she stepped in the elevator and pressed the button for the 4th floor. When the elevator arrived on the floor, she made her way towards the closed door of the lounge, but upon entering it, she found it to be empty.

"Arizona?" Callie called out, closing the door behind her.

"Callie?" came a weak reply from the direction of the closed bathroom door.

"Arizona! Are you okay? Can I come in?" Callie asked with panic in her voice as she rushed over to the door.

When there was no reply, she opened the door anyway. There, she found Arizona kneeling on the floor, her head in the toilet, violently throwing up.

"Oh my God! What happened? Did you fall? Are you okay?" Callie asked, bending down and placing a hand on her wife's back.

She didn't get a reply as Arizona continued to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.

Turning to the sink next to her, Callie opened the cabinet and reached in to retrieve the temporal artery thermometer that was stored there. She turned the device on and ran it across Arizona's forehead until she heard the beep. Callie sighed as she read the numbers out loud.

"101. It's low grade, but it's still a fever. Do you think you caught it while working on peds?"

Arizona shook her head.

"I was doing Alex's post-op scut all day. I have barely had a chance to catch my breath," Arizona managed to whisper before doubling over the toilet bowl again.

"Sweetie…" Callie breathed as she tied Arizona's hair back in a bun so that she wouldn't get it dirty. "I think you overdid it today."

For the last seventeen years since the plane crash, Arizona had always made sure she had ample breaks in her schedule and she was always careful not to become too overwhelmed while working. Amputation is extremely hard on a body, and the associated physiological changes make it much easier for an amputee to become run-down. Up until now, she had never become violently ill due to overtaxing herself at work, but she overdid it today in an attempt to keep her mind off of Briley's condition.

Arizona continued to throw up for a couple more minutes before she leaned away from the toilet bowl and rested her back up against the wall, closing her eyes.

"You done?" Callie asked apprehensively as Arizona nodded.

Callie stood up and flushed the toilet before going back out into the lounge and clearing off the couch. She laid out a pillow and a blanket before returning to the bathroom to help Arizona up. She put her arm around her wife's waist and took the majority of her weight as Arizona limped over to the couch.

Helping her lay down, Callie covered her with the blanket and went to the kitchen area to grab her a glass of water and some Tylenol to bring her fever down. She also brought over a bowl to set next to her, just in case she got sick again. After handing Arizona the medicine to swallow, Callie sat beside Arizona on the couch and stroked her hair, knowing she likes to have that done to her when she's sick.

"How's Bri?" Arizona asked. "I want to go see her."

Callie shook her head.

"Nope. You are going to stay right here and sleep. The only way to get rid of this sickness is to rest," Callie reminded her. "And I don't know how Briley is. I haven't seen her or heard any updates since this morning. I've been in back-to-back surgeries all day."

"Will you go see her for me? Go sit by her bedside and relieve Chandler and Nicole, would you? They need to go down to the caf to get something to eat. I bet they haven't left that tiny room all day," Arizona said, looking up at Callie with those bright blue eyes of hers.

Callie nodded without hesitation. Arizona was always putting her patients- and their parents- first, even when she was sick herself.

Standing up, Callie kissed Arizona's forehead before leaving Arizona to rest and heading out the door.

Callie lost herself in her thoughts as she made her way up to peds. She was startled out of her daydreams by her cell phone ringing. It was an unfamiliar number on the caller ID, but she decided to answer anyways.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Torres?"

"It's actually Dr. Torres, but yes, how can I help you?" Callie replied.

"My apologies, Dr. Torres. This is Anna Richard calling, I'm Sofia's guidance counselor at school. How are you?" the woman on the other end of the phone said.

"I'm fine. Is there something wrong with Sofia? Is she okay?" Callie asked, confused at why the school guidance counselor was calling outside of school hours.

"She is fine. I am just calling to tell you that Sofia failed three tests today. I was wondering if there was something going on at home that could have caused this? She is normally a great student with stellar grades, which is why her teachers contacted me," the counselor explained.

Callie felt her heart sink. Maybe she should have let Sofia take a mental health break from school today. Evidently, Briley's deterioration was affecting Sofia more than Callie had realized.

"Um, yes, well, Sofia is very close friends with Briley Locke. She's been having a very rough time coming to terms with Briley's condition lately," Callie told her.

"Ah, yes. I've heard about poor Briley. So sad. If you could just talk to Sofia about her schoolwork, I'm sure her teachers would be more than willing to let her re-take her tests when she is prepared," the guidance counselor said.

"Thank you," Callie replied, stepping off the elevator on the PICU floor.

"No problem. It was so nice speaking with you. Have a great rest of your day," the counselor replied.

"I'll try," Callie said before hanging up.

Callie approached the familiar PICU room and she knocked on the closed door to Briley's room before entering. Just as Arizona had suspected, Nicole and Chandler were in nearly the exact same positions as they were in this morning when she saw them last. Callie noticed that both of their faces were tear stained and puffy when they looked over at her as she entered the room.

"Hi Callie," Nicole greeted her with a small smile.

"Hey. How are you guys? Is there anything I can do?" Callie asked as she put her comforting hand on Nicole's arm.

Nicole shook her head.

"We're hanging in there," Chandler answered sadly.

"Have you guys had anything to eat?" Callie asked them, showing that she was concerned not only for Briley, but for them as well.

Chandler and Nicole looked at one another before shaking their heads. They hadn't realized how much time had passed. They hadn't been hungry enough to eat.

"Go down to the cafeteria and get yourselves something to eat. Or some coffee at least. I'll stay here with Briley," Callie offered.

Reluctantly, Nicole and Chandler both stood up from where they were seated and headed for the door. Callie took a seat where Nicole had been sitting and picked up Briley's hand and held it in hers.

"Thank you, Callie. You have no idea how much we appreciate this," Chandler turned to her and said before they exited the room.

As Callie held Briley's hand, she reminisced on all of the good times Sofia had shared with her over the years. When Briley assisted Sofia's first goal in soccer when they were seven. When they had pulled out an old tarp and ran hose water all over it turning it into a slip and slide on a hot summer day. When both Briley and Sofia made the honor roll their first semester of high school…

Callie took all of those memories and compared it to the girl that was before her now. A girl who was bald, missing a leg, and hooked up to a ventilator. Childhood cancer was so, so cruel.

It was in that moment that Callie decided that those happy memories and stories are how she will remember Briley when she leaves her earthly home. She was going to choose to remember her infectious giggle and her silly personality rather than her blood curdling screams as the radioactive chemotherapy ravaged through her teenage body.

Callie had seen enough cancer patients throughout her years in the medical field to know that Briley's time was near. She hoped with all of her heart that she wasn't in any pain. Though the prescribed painkillers were supposed to be keeping her comfortable, Callie knew that there was only so much a morphine drip could do for someone during a time like this.

Callie did the only thing she knew to do when things were out of her control. Pray.

 _Jesus, please guide this baby girl right into your loving arms when the time is right. Please release her from her hurting body here on Earth and end her suffering,_ Callie prayed as she held Briley's hand to her lips and closed her eyes.

An overwhelming wave of sadness fell over Callie as she kept vigil at Briley's bedside. She bent down in her seat, resting her arms and her head down on the bed, shielding her face. Callie felt her shoulders begin to shake as she sobbed silently, but uncontrollably.

"Torres?"

Callie's head shot up and she wiped the tears off of her cheeks as she saw Alex standing in the doorway. His face softened and his eyes looked so concerned.

"You okay?"

Callie shook her head.

Alex walked over to her and pulled a rolling stool up next to where she was seated. He put his arms around her shoulders and rested his head on top of hers. He wasn't asking her to reveal why she was suddenly breaking down, he was just there so that she could have the silent support of a friend during her time of need.

"Briley's dying," Callie stated the obvious.

"I know."

"Arizona's sick. And Sofia's failing classes. And my life doesn't feel like my life anymore. I just want to wake up from this nightmare!" Callie cried as she leaned into Alex's embrace.

"I know. I know, Cal. Shh. I've got you," Alex whispered as he rubbed her shoulder.

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Both Alex and Callie jumped up from their seats, ready to attend to Briley's needs.

"Where is it coming from?!" Callie asked, darting her eyes to and from every machine Briley was hooked up to, trying to find the source of the alarms.

"I don't know!" Alex said, doing the same thing.

Just then, both Callie's and Alex's hearts stopped as the erratic and irregular beeping turned into a dreaded long, continuous one.

 **BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP**

* * *

 **Ooooh. A cliffhanger.** **And another rough chapter.**

 **Please leave all of your reviews on this update and this story in general below for me to read! I'd love to read your thoughts.**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi everyone! I am so sorry to have kept you waiting on a cliffhanger for so long! It certainly wasn't my intention, but I was very busy these last two weeks, and I only got the chance to sit down and write this weekend!**

 **Here is chapter 10 of "Shock to the System"! I hope you all enjoy it! Remember to leave your feedback and reviews for me to read!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

"We need a crash cart in here!" Alex yelled, sticking his head out of the doorway into the hallway.

Almost immediately, an army of nurses rushed into the room, pushing a red cart containing a defibrillator alongside them.

"Switching to manual ventilation!" Callie declared as she unhooked Briley from the mechanical breathing machine and began bagging her herself.

"Charge to 100! Clear!" Alex instructed once he was standing over Briley's body with the paddles in his hands.

Immediately after administering an electrical shock through her body, the continuous beeping sound returned to it's normal periodic ones.

"She's back," Alex said as he read her heart rhythms on the monitor.

Everyone in the room exhaled with relief. Alex returned the paddles back in their place on the cart and Callie reconnected Briley to the ventilator. The nurses retreated back out to the hallway with the crash cart and Alex took a seat in the chair next to the bed and put his face in his hands.

"This is the end. I wouldn't give her much longer. She wants to go," he said blankly, stating the obvious.

Callie sighed as she nodded her head. Briley was at the end of her journey with cancer, and _she_ was going to have to be the one to relay this heartbreaking information to Chandler and Nicole. Fantastic.

PICU room 622 was eerily silent, with the exception of the whir of the ventilator and the beeping of the monitors. What kind of small talk can you make with one another in a situation like this?

The uncomfortable silence didn't last for long, though, because just minutes later, a ghostly pale Arizona limped through the door.

"What the hell happened?!" she breathed, gasping for air. "Why- why didn't you page me?"

"Because you're sick! You're not allowed in the Intensive Care Unit with a fever, and besides, you need to rest!" Callie scolded her, ready to push her back out into the hallway.

"Please, Callie," Arizona pleaded with tears brimming in her eyes. Arizona needed to be here in Briley's final moments, no matter how sick she felt.

Callie's gaze (and heart) softened when she saw the helpless look on Arizona's face, begging to stay. She clearly looked so exhausted and sore, that it must have taken so much effort out of her to have made it across the hospital from where she was sleeping. The least Callie could do for her wife at this point in time was to let her stay.

"Fine. But you have to wear these," Callie gave in, handing Arizona a sterile gown, a sterile mask and a pair of sterile gloves so that she wouldn't spread her germs. "And you have to take a seat and rest, for the love of God."

Alex got up from where he was seated and motioned for Arizona to take his place. Taking small, carefully calculated steps so that she didn't trip and fall, Arizona made her way towards the chair.

"How did you even hear about the crash?!" Callie asked as she slowly helped Arizona lower herself into the seat.

"Nurses talk. And gossip like that spreads fast," Arizona replied, taking a big exhale.

Soon after, Briley's parents returned from their coffee break, surprised to see all three doctors in their daughter's room. Panic arose in their eyes when they saw the somber looks staring back at them.

"Did something happen while we were gone?" Chandler apprehensively asked, taking Nicole's hand in his and making individual eye contact with each of the doctors before him.

"Chandler, Nicole, why don't you sit down," Callie said, leading them towards the couch in the crowded room.

After they were seated, Callie clasped and unclasped her hands trying to find the words she needed to say. Telling bad news to a patient's family never gets easier, specifically when it's a couple that has felt like your own family for many years.

"About ten minutes after you left, Briley went into cardiac arrest. Her heart stopped."

Both of them gasped. Their faces fell, along with their hearts, as they processed this news. A single tear slid down Nicole's cheek, but she brushed it away with the back of her hand. Surely this was the worst moment of their lives.

"This is it, right? This is the end?" Nicole asked, standing up so that she was able to take her daughter's lifeless hand in her own. Her hand, which was usually warm to the touch, felt so cold now.

Callie nodded.

"Dr. Karev was able to successfully restart her heart, but it won't be long until her heart gives out again. The infection is too strong for her compromised immune system," Callie explained. "This is it. I'm very sorry."

Chandler audibly exhaled a shaky breath. Neither Nicole or Chandler had any tears left to cry, though. They just looked at their teenage daughter. Hooked up to countless machines and monitors that were the only thing keeping her between life and death. She really was surviving by a thread. A very _artificial_ thread. This isn't right.

"We discussed this situation- the worst case scenario- previously with her before she fell ill with the infection. We asked her what she would want if she were in a situation like this…" Chandler told the doctors. "She said she didn't want to be kept here longer than what God wanted her to be. She didn't want to be kept alive by machines that would only prolong the moment until death. Briley wouldn't want… _this_."

Arizona wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye. No family should ever have to have life or death conversations with their adolescent child. This was so unfair.

"She would want to be taken off of the ventilator, off of the feeding tube, off of all forms of life support," Nicole said, honestly. Even though this was the most difficult statement she had ever said, she delivered it confidently. "But she would want Sofia to be here. Sofia _should_ be here."

Callie and Arizona exchanged a glance. Would this environment be too difficult for Sofia to handle emotionally? Or would the right thing to do be to allow her to be present as her best friend died? Both sides seemed equally as awful.

"We want her to be able to say goodbye. Those girls were- _are_ \- as close as sisters. If their roles were reversed, Briley would be destroyed if she wasn't given the chance to say a proper goodbye to Sofia. Briley would want her here," Chandler nodded, placing his hand on his wife's arm as he looked back and forth between Arizona and Callie.

Callie and Arizona made eye contact before Arizona nodded her blessing. Chandler was right. Sofia needed to be here.

"I'll go get her. I'll be back in fifteen," Callie said as she nodded, giving her own stamp of approval.

The Robbins-Torres family only lived a short drive from the hospital, and Callie knew that Sofia would be at home by this time in the evening, probably completing her homework.

As Callie made her way towards the parking lot, she couldn't help but wonder how Sofia would handle this situation. How would she react to this news? Would she be strong, or stoic or break down? What kind of effects would Briley's death have on her, given that they are so close? Should Callie and Arizona be taking Sofia to see a therapist? Would she become clinically depressed? There were so many "what if" situations that Callie played over in her head.

Before Callie knew it, she had arrived at the front stoop of their house. She felt a shiver run up her spine as she she inserted her key into the knob and pushed open the door.

"Sofi?" Callie called as she shut the door behind her, not bothering to take off her shoes.

"Mama?" Sofia called back, appearing outside her bedroom door at the top of the staircase. "Where's Mommy? You look sad… Is everything okay?"

Callie bit her upper lip as she crafted her response.

"Mommy's sick. She has a fever, but I actually came home to grab you. I'm taking you back to the hospital with me."

A concerned look appeared on Sofia's face as she ran downstairs to get her shoes and jacket on.

"Is her fever really that bad?! That she has to stay at the hospital?!" Sofia asked, concerned for her other mother's wellbeing.

"No, no, she's fine! It's low grade. I'm taking you back to the hospital because of Briley," Callie explained. Sofia gasped. "She's dying. And Nicole and Chandler don't want to turn off her life support without you there."

…

The ride back to the hospital and up to the PICU was silent. Sofia's heart raced and her palms were sweaty as she followed her mother in the familiar halls of the hospital. She hadn't seen Briley in days since she had been transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, but from her understanding, a fatal infection was ravaging through her friend's body. Is she awake? Would she look different? And if she did, would she even be recognizable? Sofia's thoughts ran free as her footsteps echoed in the quiet halls of the hospital.

It wasn't long before Callie stopped at the doorway of one of the patient rooms. She knocked softly before opening the door and holding it open for Sofia to follow.

Sofia took a deep breath as she walked through the door frame, and let out a small gasp at what she saw.

She was immediately met with the puffy-eyed, emotionless faces of Chandler and Nicole as they looked over at her when she entered the room. She quickly darted her eyes away, unable to see the two adults in front of her in such a vulnerable state.

But once she switched her gaze from the parents, her line of vision was met with an even worse sight. Briley.

There she was- her face looked so hollowed out and ghostly. Almost like a skeleton with skin. Sofia immediately noticed how thin her body was. Her muscles were usually so toned from years of playing soccer, but now even Sofia could see that they were beginning to atrophy. Even while unconscious, Briley looked as if she was uncomfortable and in pain. And Sofia felt the same emotions while just looking at her.

"Briley," Sofia managed to whisper, her eyes filling with tears. She wasn't sure what to expect when coming up to the hospital room, but she surely hadn't expected _this_.

"Why don't we give them some privacy? Just a little time for them to be alone," Nicole suggested, looking at all of the adults in the room.

Everyone simultaneously nodded as they began to file out into the hallway one by one. Alex shut the shades before leaving the room, and Callie had gone to quickly fetch a wheelchair to bring it over to where Arizona was sitting. She helped her wife transfer into the chair, then silently pushed her out into the hallway, leaving the teenagers alone.

Sofia took a deep breath before sitting down on a stool next to her friend's hospital bed. She hesitated before taking Briley's hand in her own. She hated seeing her friend in this kind of state. The whole situation made her feel like her stomach was doing backflips, but deep down, she knew that this was a thousand times more unbearable for Briley and the Locke family. This was her _friend_. And this would be the last time she would ever see her living again, regardless of whether she was being kept alive by machines or not.

"Bri… Briley…" Sofia didn't even know where to begin. How do you say goodbye to your best friend since day one?!

The tears that Sofia had done a good job so far of holding back finally made their breakthrough. Sofia held Briley's lifeless hand as she sobbed, silently pleading to God not to take her friend away.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Bri," Sofia told her, slightly hesitating before adding: "If I could switch places with you, I would. In a heartbeat."

The room remained silent except for the noises from the ventilator and heart monitors.

"We were supposed to become doctors. Together. We were supposed to live next door to each other and raise our families _together_. How am I supposed to do any of that without you by my side?!" Sofia tearily asked her friend, half expecting a response.

"I will miss you until the end of time. But I know that you'll be right by my side along the way. You'll be in my heart forever, Briley Locke."

…

Briley's funeral service was held the following Monday.

Per request from Briley, the service was closed casket, but she was wearing her favorite pink dress. The Lockes asked everybody to wear bright colors, rather than black, to remember the happy-go-lucky and vibrant girl that she was. They also requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the peds ward at Grey + Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Briley's casket was a pearl white color, and beside it, there was a bucket filled with multi-colored Sharpie markers for those in attendance to write an everlasting message to Briley on her coffin.

As the Robbins-Torres family approached the station, each of them opted for a different color marker. Arizona hesitated before selecting a gold Sharpie- the color of the childhood cancer awareness ribbon- to leave her message:

 _Briley, I am sorry we failed you. You deserved so much more than we could offer. You deserved the world. Rest in the sweetest peace, sweet girl._

 _Much love, Dr. Arizona_

…

Callie and Arizona returned to work, and Sofia returned to school, about a week after Briley passed. They had taken some time off to spend together as a family and grieve, following the events that had shaken each member of their family differently.

Within five minutes of having returned to the lobby of Grey + Sloan, Callie and Arizona were already buried in cases that they had missed last week that they needed to familiarize themselves with. As they were reading through their schedules for the day, Bailey tapped them both on the shoulder.

"Torres, Robbins? I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am to both of you for the loss of that precious baby girl. Please give my condolences to Miss Sofia as well," she told them

"Thank you Bailey, it means a lot. The services were beautiful- just as she would have wanted," Callie replied. "Sofia is having a tough time, but she is getting through, day by day."

As she finished talking, both Callie's and Arizona's pagers went off. Glancing down, they both realized they were being paged by Alex. Both of their hearts began to race, because in the last few months when they were both paged, it was usually bad news about Briley.

But Briley was no longer here. Why would Alex be paging both of them?

Callie and Arizona exchanged a confused look and a shrug before saying goodbye to Bailey and heading towards the conference room that Alex was paging them to.

When they arrived, they were shocked to find Alex sitting at the table beside Chandler and Nicole. Callie and Arizona weren't sure what they had expected, but this truly came as a surprise.

"Hi Chandler, hi Nicole, is everything alright?" Arizona asked as she hugged the couple, who she hadn't seen since their daughter's services.

"Yes, we're fine. Well… we're managing," Nicole said, with a small nod.

Callie and Arizona took seats across from Alex and the Lockes on the opposite side of the conference room table.

"So… what brings you guys in today?" Callie said, asking the question that both her and Arizona were anxiously wondering.

Chandler put his arm around Nicole.

"We are both just so grateful for everything the three of you and this hospital did for Briley during her battle," he said. "So grateful, in fact, that we have decided to start a foundation in Briley's memory."

"The Briley Madeline Locke Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research," Nicole announced, flashing the first real smile Callie and Arizona had seen her give in months. "While we are thankful for the treatment Briley received here at the hospital, we also know that childhood cancer is very underfunded and under researched, specifically childhood bone cancers like Ewing Sarcoma."

"Our goal with this foundation is to raise money that can be put towards groundbreaking innovative childhood cancer research at Grey + Sloan Memorial Hospital," Chandler explained. "And we want to start off the foundation by handing the three of you a check for one million dollars."

Callie, Arizona and Alex's jaws dropped at this news. ONE MILLION DOLLARS?! They couldn't believe it. This money could get them started on the right track to work towards studying, researching, and developing safer and more effective treatments for pediatric cancers. Wow.

"I don't know what to say!" Arizona gushed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Thank you so much for this, you guys. You have no idea how you- and Briley- will continue to help other patients," Callie told them, giving them each a hug.

"We were looking for a way to honor Briley and keep her fighting spirit alive, and we found this foundation to be the perfect solution," Chandler said.

And it was the perfect solution. Maybe the treatments available today couldn't have saved Briley from her subtype of aggressive childhood cancer. But this money donated in her name can help so that one day in the future, another little kid could be spared. Even though Briley had passed on, her legacy has found a way to live on forever.

And that was everything.

 **THE END.**

* * *

 **So there you have it everybody! The final chapter of "Shock to the System"! I know that this wasn't the ending that some of you wanted, but it was the ending I had in mind since the very beginning. AWARENESS inspires ACTION! I have worked so hard on this story for many months, and I am so proud of how it turned out. I am so glad that you all enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it! The feedback from this fic has been phenomenal, and I very much enjoyed telling Briley, Arizona, Sofia, and Callie's story.**

 **Thank you so much to Shonda Rhimes for creating "Grey's Anatomy" and the characters of Arizona Robbins, Callie Torres and Sofia Robbin Sloan-Torres, as well as thank yous going out to Jessica Capshaw, Sara Ramirez and Eva Ariel Binder for portraying them. Thank you to Maddie C., a real teenager (and "Grey's" fan!) who battled Ewing Sarcoma (and survived), who was the inspiration and dedication behind this story. Thank you to all of the amazing readers and reviewers who have read and followed along with this story- I appreciate you all so much!**

 **If you liked this story and/or you like my writing style and point of view, be sure to follow me here on FanFiction so that you are alerted when I post a new story and update my current stories! I am looking forward to sharing my new stories with you, and I hope you are all looking forward to them!**

 **xoxo Arizona Robbins MD**


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